The Memory
by Cabba
Summary: Now that Harry knows who he is, does it matter who he was? Everyone holds darkness in them. But Harry fear keeps his in. Or does it? The past isn't pleasant for him and neither is it for Hogwarts. Something lurks behind its walls and there's a diary thrown into the mix. It's never normal for Harry Potter. (Sequel to The Cursed! Slight AU.)
1. Birthday begins

**Thank you guys so much! I love how you're so into this! Yeah, so Percy'll make one singular appearance in this story. Get ready for – 'The Memory'!**

**I've just discovered that Ginny's real name is Ginevra and not Ginerva. Honestly, I'm not sure of the difference, but now I'm writing it as Ginevra.**

**Disclaimer – Any and all characters and scenes recognized are owned by J.K. Rowling. I mix my plots into the characters under the permission of the author.**

**Words –2078**

* * *

"Yeah, I missed you too." Harry Potter replied and that made little Elsa Wilmanson very happy. She leaned in to see how he displaced all the weeds from the front garden to the backyard.

Sanya never really liked to talk aloud in Harry's presence. She had lost much of her courage during the past year leaving her sisters to lead on.

"So…" Leila dragged out the word. "What are you doing?"

"Gardening." Harry replied, taking out another clump of weeds and putting it in the wheel barrow. Harry had never destroyed the weeds. Just because it didn't have flowers and didn't look neat enough, the muggles thought they were of no use. Of course, Aunt Petunia had let him put them in the backyard, thankfully.

Without harming the roots, he carefully pulled out the entire weed and placed it next to the previous one on the barrow.

Harry tried not to sigh. The fierce sun was harsh and it had taken little convincing to get the girls to sit in the shade of the only tree in the front yard.

"Here." Sanya muttered, blushing as she handed Harry a small pink water bottle.

"Thank you, Sanya. So tell me girls, how has your year been?"

Leila and Elsa launched into elaborate explanations while Sanya leaned back as though trying to hide herself.

Harry listened to their details attentively. It helped relieve his loneliness. Other than his letters, pet owl, his familiar dog and his reflection (who couldn't shut his mouth), he was facing the most boring summers ever. He almost wished that something would happen. Of course, knowing his luck, he'd burn down the house.

His previous summers had never been this dull. Waiting for the Jacksons to come back and wishing every moment that Dudley would disappear was close to nothing now that he had a place he could call home. It wasn't this house. Not House no. 4 of Privet Drive. It was Hogwarts. A school for magical educational training all wizards and witches from everywhere across the world.

Well, except for North America and Antarctica.

"He made Callie say sorry and he became my best friend!" Elsa continued. Harry nodded patiently.

When school term had ended, Harry had bid goodbye to Ron and Hermione, his two best friends with a heavy heart. He didn't show it of course. He met Ron's parents and his little sister, Ginevra. She was small and her whole face was glowing when she saw Harry. Her hair had seemed even brighter than her family's. Harry had expected it go on flames any second.

He adjusted his cap to lessen the sun on his face which was already smudged with dirt. He couldn't wait for a nice cold bath…

"Then he played with us for the whole day!" Leila chirped.

Harry turned his mind over the latest letter DJ had sent. He wasn't sure why, but his cousin had also sent the Potter Family Book. By reading the letter, which seemed off, Harry was sure that DJ had read something that had spooked him.

Harry never found anything disturbing in the book. In fact, he took to reading the Potter Family book late at night trying to go to sleep by knowing facts about his family.

For example, no girl born or wed into the family ever inherited black hair. Random, but fun.

DJ had also sent Sherbet Lemon to Harry, knowing that it was Harry favourite muggle sweet. Harry received many things in his mail today. A copy of the new Quidditch Facts and False Fiction from Hermione. Ron had sent a set of goggles for Harry if it rained during a Quidditch Match.

Ron's mother had sent another Weasely Jumper which was black with red designs of snitches. Ron must have told her that Harry favoured black.

"And then Josh kissed me on the cheek!" Elsa squealed.

"What?!" Harry shouted. He dropped his spade and looked at Elsa.

"Josh kissed you?"

"Yeah! He was so sweet!"

"Elsa, what kind of boy is he?"

"I told you! Weren't you listening? He's cute and nice and funny and he's my best friend!" She said and Harry tried to calm down. This 'Josh' was a boy of her age! No need to get worked up over it. It's not like he was a teenager or something…

"Elsa, don't let him kiss you too much, okay?" Harry tried to say this without too much force.

"Why not?" She looked completely confused at that along with her sisters. Harry tried to take deep breaths. The girl was four for Merlin's sake!

"Well… you know…" Harry said trying to grab on strings that would make her think boys weren't nice.

"Boys aren't like girls." He said lamely.

Leila nodded looking very wise, "Yeah, boys are dumb. They're yucky."

"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed and then stopped to think that sentence properly.

"But Josh is nice!" Elsa said.

"Josh is okay." Leila conceded but Harry shook his head.

"No, look, Josh can be your friend, but no kissing."

"Why not? It's not like they have cooties, right?"

"Uh…"

"Mum says boys have cooties. It's not nice." Leila said, as though just remembering her mother' warning.

Harry grabbed onto that, "Yes! She's absolutely right!"

Harry tried to ignore four pairs of round eyes gaped at him. His head snapped up.

Four pairs?

Harry froze. Right behind Sanya, in the hedges, there were two tennis ball eyes stared at him. He stared back. The eyes disappeared and Leila screeched. Harry jumped, "What? What?!"

"Boys have cooties?!"

"Oh, that… yeah. Yeah, they do." Harry sat down wondering what just happened. He connected with his Core and explored the hedge in question.

There were two squirrels at the edge, stuck in the brambles, there was a monarch on one of the leaves and a cluster of ants at the base of the main shoot, but nothing else.

"_Boys have cooties?!_" It came out as a shriek.

"Yeah." Harry muttered absentmindedly. The girls got up and ran away shouting, "Bye, Harry!"

Harry was about to get up when Sanya took her little water bottle and whispered, "Happy Birthday, Harry."

"Thanks, Sanya."

"I don't think you have cooties." She said and quickly ran away.

Harry stood up and brushed his hands together. He walked to the hedge and freed the tangled squirrels. They sniffed his hand and scurried up his arms to sit on his shoulder. One of them explored his cap.

Harry couldn't understand the eyes.

'It must have been some kind of normal animal.' Bolt suggested yawning.

"No, it was too intelligent. It's eyes were focused." Harry muttered. The squirrels pushed his cap of and ran through his hair. Harry was too deep in thought to stop them.

"What are you doing?" A snide voice asked from behind.

"Thinking." Harry replied. He had no mood to talk to Dudley, now.

"About a plant. Mum's right, you are a freak." He laughed and Harry frowned.

"Better a freak than….uh, whatever you are." Harry shot back and Dudley glared at him. The muggle was a bit shorter than him but also larger, horizontally.

"You have squirrels in your hair."

"Yes, yes I do."

Harry pushed the wheel barrow over the small footpath to avoid crushing the grass. Dudley followed him, obviously trying to irritate him.

"I know what day it is!"

"Congratulations, you have finally learnt the days of the week."

"Haven't you got any presents from that freak school of yours?"

"The building doesn't give gifts, Dudley. The people in it do. Why are you so interested in that? Your Mum wouldn't like to know how much you talk about magic."

Dudley gasped. He stared at Harry as though the latter had threatened him with crime. Harry rolled his eyes and started planting behind the house.

"You said the M-word!"

Harry looked up at him and got up, "Mayhem, muggle, mobster, madam, mad, mud, mead, mike, mill, movie. There, I said lots of M-words. What are you going to do about that?"

Dudley glared at him, "Mum! Harry's doing some bad things!"

Harry stared at him, confused. He looked into the house to see a frying pan hurtling towards him. He dodged it and caught it by the handle within a second.

Aunt Petunia appeared in the window and glared at him, "What did you do?"

"I was talking. I wasn't aware that it was banned."

"Show some respect!"

"For what?"

She glared at him and shouted at Dudley to get in the house.

* * *

Harry collapsed on the bed and sighed as the squirrels jumped out of his hair and started exploring his room. His school trunk was closed and stuffed under the bed and his guitar was on the table, some books were carelessly strewn around and his clothes were pushed into the shelf.

He usually wasn't this messy, but he didn't want to get up at the moment. The evening sun was starting to cast long shadows across his room and Harry sighed when his uncle's shout hit his ears.

"BOY! GET DOWN HERE, NOW!"

Harry waited.

"PLEASE!"

He casually walked out his door, jumped over the railing and landed easily like a cat on the ground floor. He never took the stairs while going down.

Uncle Vernon stood there with a purple face. His huge body had been forced into a dinner suit similar to what Dudley was wearing now. Aunt Petunia wore an orange cocktail dress with a small apron tied neatly.

His uncle looked at him with disgust. His tiny eyes going over the expensive clothes caked with mud, over Harry unruly hair (never mind he had just gone to the barbers), his slanted glasses and the squirrels. One was sitting on his shoulders, and the other was in his hair. Harry twirled the cap around his fingers and said, "Yes?"

"As you very well know, " Uncle Vernon said, his body convulsing as he struggled to make his voice polite, "The Masons are due to arrive within five minutes."

"I'm not keeping the time. You are." Harry reminded him. A vein in his uncle's forehead seemed to pulse.

"During the entire evening and night, you are to stay in your room."

"I know that. You told me every day."

Uncle Vernon took another breathe and turned to his son, "When the Masons arrive, you will be?"

"At the door, waiting to invite them in and take their coats." Dudley said putting on a fake polished tone.

"Good! And Petunia?"

"Waiting to invite them graciously into our living room." She said, in a happy high pitched noise. Harry wondered how the bats in the attic survived that.

"And, you?" Uncle Vernon asked looking at Harry as though daring for him to forget.

"I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist." Harry said looking at the pink and white cake with elaborate frosting. It was right next to the radio and Harry could have sworn that a spark came from it.

"Right you will, this is one of the biggest days of my career and you-will-not-mess-it-up!" He snarled and turned away.

Harry suddenly piped up, "Aren't you going to wish me?"

The Dursleys stopped and stared as though he had decided to do an Irish jig.

"It's my big day too." Harry said. Bolt was sniggering at their expressions.

Uncle Vernon knew he wasn't getting out of this. You couldn't stop Harry once he got started.

"Happy…birthday." His uncle grunted so low, that Harry almost had to strain his ears to catch it.

"Do you know how old I am?"

"You're younger than Dudley!"

Harry looked at Dudley who was scratching his head as he practiced his moves and talked to himself.

"Let's agree to disagree then. Would you mind doing me something? For my birthday?"

Uncle Vernon looked as though he was going to explode. As much as Harry would have enjoyed that, he immediately said, "Put the radio in the corner. If it blasts, it's not my fault."

Harry couldn't trust the spark he had seen at the time. Suddenly, there was a sound of a car on their footpath and Aunt Petunia hissed at him to go up.

Knowing his luck, Harry was sure that the radio would blast.

'You aren't very optimistic, are you?' Bolt asked. Harry shrugged and locked his door. He sat on his bed and almost jumped up again.

There was someone in his room.

* * *

**Just starting, the real thing is in the next. Stay tuned!**

**Cabba.**


	2. Mystery begins!

**Thank you for the response! You won't believe it, but the proof is right there!**

**xXTheDragonRiderXx – Percy's not coming right now. But don't worry; you'll see him in an unexpected turn. Or rather you'll read about him in an unexpected turn.**

**Weird'sMyName – Yes, yes, yes! No, it's not a memory. I know it's confusing, but it'll sound better when you read it.**

**RedRangerBelt – Yes. Ofcourse. You'll see. Glad you're still faithful!**

**KyrianaeNarii**** – Thank you!**

**SheldonC – You'll come to know soon…**

**Enjoy! Another twist here!**

**Disclaimer – All recognized characters belong to JKR. I own nothing except this plot.**

**Words – 2353**

…

Harry jumped up so fast that the room nearly spun. There was a tiny being with green tennis ball eyes sitting on his shelf.

"Don't be alarmed, sir. I is causing no trouble!" It squeaked. It was about as tall as Harry's knees. It's grey skin was dull and the floppy ears flapped whenever it moved. It had thin hands and legs and was wearing what Harry thought was a pillow case.

"Are you a house elf?" Harry asked dubiously.

The elf nodded vigorously and jumped down. From the ground floor, Harry could hear Aunt Petunia greeting in the guests.

"I is Dobby the House Elf!" He said proudly. Harry nodded. Bolt leapt out of Harry's shoulder and landed softly next to Dobby who stared at her with wide eyes.

She gave him a sniff and then jumped onto the bed.

"Well, not to be rude or anything, it isn't a really great time to have house elves in my room." Harry said trying not to be too impolite. He felt bad when Dobby's ears fell flat against his head.

"Dobby will not take much time, sir."

"Okay, just make it quick." Harry said sitting down on the bed. He had actually wanted to close his eyes for some time. He gestured to the other end of the bed and said, "Why don't you sit down?"

To his shock, Dobby started crying.

"No! Dobby, I'm sorry. Don't sit down! I didn't mean to offend you or anything! Please, could you keep it down?"

"Offend?!" Dobby looked dumbfounded at that. Harry wasn't sure what to do now.

"Never has Dobby been asked to sit down by wizard! Like an equal…"

"Oh! Well, you must have not met many decent wizards then." Harry said hoping that this would cheer him up.

"No, Dobby hasn't." The elf said and stood there for a second before launching himself on the shelf, banging his head against it.

Harry grabbed him by the pillow cover and yanked him away.

"Dobby!"

The elf looked a little regretful as though he desperately wanted to injure himself.

Harry dropped the elf on his chair and said, "Please don't do that."

The elf shivered and said, "I'm sorry, sir. Dobby will try not do that again."

"Ok. And don't call me 'sir'. Just Harry, would be fine."

Dobby stared at him as though he were from another planet.

"Just Harry, sir, Dobby has come to –"

"No, don't call me sir." The wizard specified and Bolt let out a low bark.

But Dobby didn't listen to him, "Sir, Dobby is here to pass the message that terrible things are brewing at Hogwarts!"

The room was quiet and then Bolt started growling. Dobby jumped back onto Harry's table.

"Is Snape making a poison for me?" Harry asked lightly.

"Just Harry, sir, must understand! There is plot! A wicked one! Just Harry must tread carefully!" Dobby said desperately.

Harry contemplated that. Malfoy had said dangers were starting. Was this it?

"What plot?"

Dobby cringed. His entire frame trembled and his breathing became gasps.

"Okay! Okay! I Understand! You can't! Say! Anything!" Harry hissed in tone with each of Dobby's gasps. The elf's body convulsed and he leapt to grab Harry's bedside lamp. Harry snatched the lamp away and grabbed the elf, again.

"Dobby!"

"Sir! You must understand!" Dobby gasped. He hung limply from Harry's grip.

"Deep breaths." Harry said and they took slow seconds to calm down.

"Danger is actually one of my closest companions, Dobby. So, I suppose this will be an extended continuum of my life."

"Ain't that the truth?" Harry's reflection piped up from the mirror, strangely using an American accent. Harry ignored him.

"But Just Harry, sir, this is different. There is dark magic afoot. Dobby can say no more. If Dobby's senior masters knew he was here…"

The elf shivered. But Harry caught something from it.

"Wait a second, you said, you were passing on the warning, right? Who told you to?"

Dobby started to shiver again and Harry immediately said, "Okay, don't say it!"

He sighed. This was a bit too much. "Could you give me a clue, at the least?"

Dobby grimaced at that, "I is very sorry, Just Harry, but Dobby is here to tell sir to be careful."

"I am careful, very careful. I think thrice before thinking what to do and I am rather okay in a pressured situation."

"Yeah, but in a normal situation, you're mad." The reflection commented and Harry glared at it, "Shut up!"

Dobby looked frightened at that, "Sir?"

Harry shook his head. Bolt was rolling on the bed laughing.

Suddenly, a blast rocketed the entire house from below. Harry jumped up to his feet and ran downstairs with Bolt and Dobby at his heels.

The kitchen sink was on fire.

There were screams coming from Aunt Petunia and another woman who were in the Dining room. Harry ran past them and took out the Fire Extinguisher from underneath the kitchen island. He prayed this worked. It had been there for so long, it was as good as a show piece, not kept for show. He twisted the cap of and it came away with a crack into his hands as though it was china. Pointing the spout at the fire which was inching close to the gas stove, Harry pressed the nozzle and let the white combination of suffocating smoke onto the fire.

Within seconds, the fire died down. Harry let out a sigh and dropped the extinguisher to pick up the black remains of a radio from the sink. He looked directly at Dudley, who shrunk back, and said in a dry voice, "You put a malfunctioning radio in the sink? I didn't expect that even from you, Dudley."

He threw it into the dustbin and was about to leave when a bald man in a pudgy black suit got up and grinned at him.

"Oh, wonderful! You actually saved us! What's your name, child?"

Harry couldn't remember when he had ever had a polite human voice speak to him in the house before.

"Harry." He mumbled. He got a glare from Uncle Vernon and said, "Well, I'm tired, so I better get back to bed."

Harry was about to leave before the woman spoke up, "I don't understand, why aren't you eating along with us?"

She gave a look at Aunt Petunia who stammered, "Oh, h…he's just tired and so we let him sleep in. Isn't that right, Harry?"

"Yes, it is, Aunt Petunia. You see, I was rather busy the entire morning and afternoon, and was dead on my feet. So I excused myself. We don't mean it as a rude gesture…"

Uncle Vernon gave a brittle smile and said, "Of course not, our nephew was _dead_ tired and I couldn't force him to attend a business dinner now, could I?"

The atmosphere relaxed and Harry shared a look with Bolt. To his surprise, Dobby wasn't there.

"Oh, that your pet? Very sweet." Mrs. Guest said appreciatively. The Dursleys stared at Bolt with wide eyes. Harry had conveniently forgotten to tell them about his familiar.

"Not a pet, madam. She's my companion. Has been for a year. She's very close to me." Harry said politely and his reflection in the fridge gave a snort at that.

The woman knelt down and started making weird cooing noises at Bolt.

"Come here, little one. I have a nice biscuit with you name on it!"

Bolt shot a 'What the Merlin?' look at Harry.

'_Go with it'_, Harry suggested.

'_No way_!'

'_Fine, go back up_.'

Bolt turned and ran away. The woman looked stunned.

"She's a little shy." Harry explained.

"Oh."

Suddenly, something smacked against the window, so hard, everyone jumped and Harry braced himself for an attack, as he crouched.

Instead, he saw wings flapping waywardly outside the window. Running over to open it, a brown barn owl flew inside and sat on his shoulder, extending its talons out for Harry to take a letter attached.

The lady screamed. She tumbled back into her husband who slipped and fell on the table. The plate that held Aunt Petunia's master piece of a pudding fell on the two of them, splattering everyone else while Harry ducked behind the island counter.

He peeked out to see the chaos and threw his uncle and aunt some towels from the counter and ran upstairs.

"How have you been, Errol?" Harry asked as Dudley let out a wail from below. The owl hooted softly and Harry sat on the bed to read the letter from Ron. Errol actually belonged to Ron's family and it was clear that he was growing rather 'batty' as George Weasely had put it.

Errol flew over to Hedwig's cage and sat outside staring at her. She gave a huff, ruffled her feathers and turned her back on him.

Harry sighed at that. He looked down at the letter.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know I already sent a letter in the morning and this one would really push Errol's limits, but this is important._

_My parents say it's okay if you can come over tomorrow. I mean, Dumbledore did say that you were allowed to take DJ and get out of the Dursleys' house in August. I know you would want to leave the minute your birthday's over, so tomorrow morning, you can pick up DJ and bring him straight here and then do whatever you wanted to._

_Mum doesn't want to you go to Diagon Alley alone with DJ, so I told her I'll send this to you._

_Don't let the Dursleys get you down!_

_Ron._

Harry leaned back and rested his head on his pillow. He really wanted to spend some time alone with DJ. But he knew Mrs. Weasely's intentions were best at heart. Besides, DJ and Ginevra were going to be in the same year, so he supposed it was good for them to be close.

He immediately wrote a short reply approving the idea. He decided to leave in the morning. Harry looked over to the table and saw Errol sound asleep. Hedwig was gave him a disapproving look.

"Let him rest, girl. Come here."

She flew gracefully to him and stretched out her leg.

"Send it to Ron. And you can stay there. I'll be heading over there in the morning, okay?"

She nipped his ear and took of fluidly into the night.

Harry stared at her till she was out of sight. He stroked Errol's feathers and looked out at the darkening skies. He blinked.

He saw a small light coloured shape flying in his direction. It looked like a bird. Was it Hedwig?

'No. It's not her. But it's an owl, alright.' Bolt said.

Harry frowned and took a step back when the small sandal wood coloured owl landed expertly at his window. It held out it's talon for him to take a letter tied to the bird.

May be it was the school's form for the new year's books?

Bolt jumped on the table and sniffed at the letter. She growled. The owl jumped behind Errol.

"What?" Harry asked aloud.

'It smells too sweet.' She said. 'Too beautiful.'

Harry sniffed the envelope. He could get the smell of orchids. "Some perfume." He agreed.

'It's not perfume.' Bolt said.

Harry shot her a curious look and read the letter.

_Dear Harry J. Potter,_

_My name is Rosalie McCarty. I may not be familiar to you, but I am related to Daniel from afar. It has been a few days since my family and I have moved to Scotland and I was immediately compelled to write the letter._

_Your parents have known me as a very close family friend and I am sure you will find me in multiple photos._

_I may be able to meet you and Daniel (to whom I have already written to) within a few months. But this is your choice if you do wish to see me. I can guess that the two of you are not happy with my absence._

_Please reply soon, we are on the same page._

_Mrs. McCarty._

'How much do you want to bet that her family paid for Melody Potter's larynx operation?' Bolt asked sarcastically.

"She's not related to me by blood. So she's on DJ's maternal side." Harry whispered and took out the Family Book.

"Seems strange that DJ didn't write anything about her." Harry reflection said casually, leaning against the mirror's surface.

"May be he got her letter after he replied to me?" Harry muttered.

"Or maybe he didn't want you to know?"

"Shut up."

"There it is again."

Harry ignored him and started from DJ's page, backwards. He went through Melody's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins once, twice and thrice removed… nothing mentioned Rosalie McCarty.

"I have an idea." His reflection said. "Every Potter save for us and DJ is dead. Search for living relatives from the female line."

Harry gave him a glare.

"Merlin, I'm just trying to help…" his reflection sat down.

Harry flipped the pages to start again. He must have missed a track.

'Maybe she's older than Dumbledore.' Bolt suggested. Harry frowned at that and started going further and further back.

Then he found her.

Bolt's ears went up straight and Harry stared at her page shocked.

_Rosalie Lillian McCarty born Rosalie Lillian Hale graduated with honours in the Healer streak and was offered a position at St. Mungo's …_

_._

_._

_._

… _she was 18 when she had disappeared a week before her wedding in 1933. She later came back through the Cullen family as a member and met her husband in 1935. _

'Okay…she's not older than Dumbledore.' Bolt murmured.

Harry hardly heard his familiar. Rosalie's photo was smiling at him. She looked 18 in it and had probably stayed that way since 1933. She had a face any woman would die for. Her perfect angular cheek and bone structure looked more of a lure than simply beauty. Her irises were gold. No…they were more of topaz. Like a jewel. But what really caught Harry was the photo frame which was not gold or even black.

It was red.

…

**Cliffie? Yup! Stay tuned for more!**

**Cabba**


	3. Peculiar strangeness

**So many reviews! I didn't expect it to cross 20! I'm so glad!**

**Yes, I just included a Twilight reference here. I'm not changing it into a crossover, because there is not much involvement of vampires. But there is a thick connection. **

**Percy will be making appearances in Harry's memories. There! I said it!**

**JamesSonOfAthena – I believe that Harry's reflection is his own subconscious. His magic is strong enough to project outwards without his knowledge.**

**Tiger1lily – No, Harry's not going mad. **

**RedRangerBelt – You shall come to know soon. You ask all the right questions.**

**xXTheDragonRiderXx – No, Rosalie is not Lily. Some others know who she is, but the rest will be surprised! Patience!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the recognized characters. They belong to JKR and SM.**

**Words – 2604**

* * *

Harry's feet were inches away from the edge of the cliff. He could still hear the echo of his scream. His breathing was a bit heavier and he tried to calm himself down.

Why was he even out of control? It meant nothing. Okay, this woman was much older than she looked. Nothing too abnormal about that. For example, Harry's great great great grandfather looked as though he was 90. But he was actually closer to 152.

She was obviously not human. That was why the Ministry hadn't let her family adopt him or DJ. Harry wasn't sure how to feel about that. He looked up above. The moon was waning and was half way through. He stared at the few stars scattered around. They twinkled and it made Harry wonder how the constellation would be over New York.

If that was where Percy and Mum were.

Harry turned around and ran back into the forest. He jumped onto the trees and felt his mind bond with the life around him. The trees rustled as though they were able to move. Harry ran and jumped from branch to branch.

It had taken him a few weeks to understand how Dumbledore had expected him to use his Core to travel. As he ran through the trees, Harry noticed his hands passed through the leaves as though they weren't there.

His entire body was in perfect synch with nature. With practice Harry would be able to travel from one tree to another.

No matter where the other tree was.

Well, as long as the tree was alive and Harry could concentrate well enough on it.

Harry stopped when he reached close to the house. He heard the clock strike three times in the Dursleys house. Harry frowned. Was it already three in the morning?

He sighed and was about to leap down when he felt a presence watching him. Harry whipped out his dagger and wand and pointed it into the darkness of the forest. It was subtly illuminated by the street light but Harry was sure that not even a small animal was there. What was watching him?

He felt the gaze sharp and turned around slowly almost dreading it. His line of vision fell upon the bedroom window of No. 3 Privet Drive.

It was that boy. That small boy was watching him. Harry stared and the boy stared back.

Harry couldn't understand it. The boy was definitely not human. Was it a wraith? He had never read anything about wraiths at Hogwarts. May be he'd get a book like that in Diagon Alley…

He wasn't sure how long, they stood there. But a strong gust of wind blew and the branch Harry was standing on tilted suddenly.

Caught off guard, Harry fell back but another branch caught him before he hit the ground. Harry scrambled to his feet and looked up to see the window of No. 3. There was no one.

* * *

Harry packed in his Invisibility cloak on top of his Nimbus. Stuffing his wand in his jacket, he shut his trunk and took a look around his room. It was uncharacteristically neat and bare save for the wardrobe, bed, table and chair.

Harry dragged the trunk down, lifting it as he went down the stairs. The Dursleys were already sour at him for what had happened the day before. Though this didn't particularly matter to Harry, he still wanted no truck with them.

"Good bye. I'm going o pick up my cousin from London and then we're heading off to my friend's home. See you next year." Harry called. Uncle Vernon shouted something and Harry ducked as a tea cup smashed against the wall behind him.

"A simple 'bye' would have sufficed." Harry muttered. He got out any way and walked to the bus stop. It was almost like déjà vu when he saw people gawking at him.

"Harry?! Harry wait!" He turned around in surprise to see Elsa, Leila and Sanya run after him.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to a friend's house." Harry said. He felt slightly guilty when he saw their faces fall.

"When will you come back?" Leila asked. Sanya shot a curious look at Harry's trunk.

"Next summer. Sorry, I just realized it yesterday evening." He said. The girls pouted.

"School's not going to start in August." Elsa said in a smart voice and Harry gave a half shrug.

"Yes, but my friend is also my year mate. So, his family will drop us there. It's easier."

The girls looked sad at that.

"You don't like it here?" Sanya asked suddenly.

"Well, I don't like the Dursleys."

"We don't like them too." Elsa said and they giggled.

"Right, I have to catch a bus, now. Be good." Harry said and they waved to him.

He made it just in time as the bus was leaving. The conductor seemed to realize that Harry had climbed on the same on last year and didn't comment on the trunk, owl and cage.

London central was crowded than Harry had hoped. It was a little difficult to maneuver his trunk out, but he did it without hurting anyone and got out of the main street. It was a short walk to the Orphanage.

He reached the gate and a watchman, he hadn't seen before, leaned out.

"Yes?"

"I'm waiting for Daniel Potter. I'm supposed to pick him up, today."

He waited for three minutes before the gate opened and DJ came out, seemingly out of breath. Harry frowned.

"Was someone chasing you?"

DJ looked surprise, "What? No. I just ran all the way. I couldn't wait! Are we seriously going to Ron's house?!"

"Yes." Harry said. DJ looked interested at Harry's trunk and cage. Errol made a small hoot as he looked up at DJ.

"Where's Hedwig?" He asked. Harry led him down an alley and said, "Already there. Bolt."

The little spaniel appeared on Harry's shoulder and DJ grinned.

"That's cool and creepy at the same time, you know?"

"Hmm. Hold on."

Harry gripped DJ's shoulder and Bolt's body shuddered. DJ shut his eyes against the sudden force around him. He felt dizzy and collapsed to his knees when it was over. Harry was on the ground too and Bolt was a tiny little thing in his palms.

"Whoa." DJ muttered. Harry stroked Bolt's fur and she started to snooze. They had just traveled about sixty miles and even though Bolt had been practicing and getting revved up for the transportation, she still seemed as though she would sleep for a few days.

"Is she gonna be alright?" DJ asked touching her ear.

"Yes, she's only dog tired."

DJ stared at Harry till the older boy said, "Pun not intended."

Harry tucked Bolt into his jacket pocket when he heard a shout.

"Harry! Finally! Mum was going bonkers!" A familiar voice echoed around the area. They were no longer in the city. DJ looked around in awe.

They were standing on a small hilltop, looking down on fresh green land covering miles. The air was pure and there were little city noises like the traffic. The silence had raw beauty. Sally would have loved a place like this. May be near the ocean…

A red headed boy was running up to them. His face split into a wide smiled as he stared at Harry and DJ.

"Ron, right?" DJ asked holding out his hand. Ron grinned and shook his hand. He clapped Harry on the shoulder and gestured, "Wanna hand with that?"

Harry shook his head. The trunk wasn't that heavy… to him.

"So, DJ. I'm Ron Weasely. And welcome to the Burrow." Ron waved his hand towards a tall unbalanced structure which was at the flat land below them.

"Weasels in a burrow?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow. DJ laughed at that and Ron nodded.

The house had a homey look to it. Though it also looked a bit dangerous, Harry felt a small shiver go down his spine. The house must have been held up by magic.

They passed a tool shed by the side and Ron opened the rickety gate for them to enter. The door was open and Harry could smell bacon. It reminded him that he had eaten only grass in the morning.

"This is so cool!" DJ whispered as he stared at chicken coop, the front yard and then the living room which seemed to be alive for some reason. Harry saw two knitting needles knitting a red jumper on its own in the corner. There were two sofas and a set of chairs around the fireplace. Harry walked around to where he could hear radio. He crossed some uneven stairs which extended to the fourth and fifth floors.

"Oh!" A voice squeaked and Harry turned to see a flustering slightly plump woman rubbing her hands against her apron, her gaze at him. She had light brown eyes and her hair seemed every bit as red as Ron's. Her face somehow reminded Harry of Sally whenever she announced that the cookies were done.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasely." He greeted her. She grinned at him and walked up to him and DJ who had just entered the kitchen.

"Hello to you both! Oh, you've grown so! The last time I saw the both of you, neither of you could walk!"

Harry opened his mouth and then shut it. DJ's cheeks turned pink at that and Ron guffawed.

"Are you hungry? Come sit down. We're having breakfast in a few minutes. I think Percy's up, already. Ron could you show where Harry and Daniel will be staying?"

"Sure, Mum." He said easily, enjoying that Mrs. Weasely was showing attention on someone else for a change. He took Hedwig's cage from Harry and Errol flew out straight into the railing of the stairs. Ron groaned.

Errol shook his feathers and head and flew out the window without anymore mishaps. At the same time, Hedwig flew in through the same window and perched herself on Harry's shoulder.

"She's much quieter than Errol." Ron pointed out as they climbed up the stairs. Hedwig ruffled her wings importantly at that.

The Burrow was completely Weasely. He could see every corner of every room adorned with things like Wizard sweets, parchments, quills, plumage, wrappers and even Chocolate Frog cards. He had expected a house filled with five children to be even grubbier. But he supposed that the matriarch saw to things with experience.

"That's Percy's room. He'd rather stay in and study than go out and play. I think it's some disorder…"

"I think you've been spending too much time with Fred and George." Harry interrupted. Ron rolled his eyes.

"No, they're cooped up too. They said they're doing homework, but I don't believe them. Not with their past record."

They crossed two more flights of stairs. DJ kept looking out the window to see the view.

"This place is really cool, Ron. And you actually get to live here!"

Ron's ears went pink. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's nothing like a muggle's place and the both of you have been there in, like, forever. That's my room." He said pointing at an orange painted door.

Ron's room could have been described in one word. Orange.

'It's like an orange threw up.' Bolt mumbled as she peeked out from Harry's pocket. There was a bed beside the shelf and two other cots closer to the window. The room was a bit larger than Harry's bedroom at the Dursleys, but the ceiling was lower and every inch of the room was decorated in violent shades of orange posters, clothes and what not.

"Chudley Cannons?" DJ read from one of the posters which had people flying on broomsticks.

"The best Quidditch team there is." Ron said proudly. Harry cocked his head to the side.

"Didn't Chudley Cannons come last in the latest season?"

"So? They'll make it to the top one day. You'll see." Ron said defensively and then pointed to one of the beds, "You guys can camp here. I can smell sausages. Mum's gonna make it extra delicious, though, I'm not sure how that's possible…"

Harry kept his trunk by his bed as DJ took the cot closest to the window. As they went down, Ron kept talking about everything they did around the Burrow. Harry and DJ listened with rapt attention partly because this was something new to both of them, but mostly because this should not have been new to them in the first place if someone hadn't come interfering in their lives eleven years ago.

"You know who? Why do people call him that?" DJ asked as they sat at the table. Ron looked as though he should have kept his mouth shut. Harry wasn't sure how to explain the entire thing as he hadn't before.

"It was no easy feat calling him by his name, Daniel." Mrs. Weasely said softly as she waved her wand and the plate containing hard boiled eggs landed neatly in front of them.

"Was he that bad?"

"Very."

DJ was quiet till Fred and George Weasely came down, their identical faces housing identical smirks.

"Ah! The Potters have arrived!" One of them, probably Fred, declared as they took a seat opposite Ron and Harry.

"Hello." Harry said trying to see who was who. But they were indistinguishable. DJ stared.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed at the sight of the Weasely twins. "Is this some kind of duplicating spell?"

The others laughed as Harry reminded, "I told you about them, DJ. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah! Fred and George! I thought you were exaggerating."

"Why would you think that?" Harry asked frowning. Surely DJ had seen their own fathers, as identical to each other as the twins in front of them. Didn't he think it was possible?

"Uh…?"

Percy Weasely entered the kitchen. He stopped at the site of the two newcomers but then smiled.

"Good morning Harry, Daniel."

Harry nodded as he swallowed his bacon. DJ looked at the tall red head, "Call me DJ."

Percy had just sat down when a red-headed girl ran into the kitchen and stopped dead with surprise as she stared at Harry. DJ smiled at her through his full mouth and Harry said, "Hello, Ginevra."

She gaped at him, took a few steps back and ran up the stairs.

The Weasely boys sniggered. Harry was confused. He didn't like that feeling, "W-what did I do?"

"That's Ginny. She's been talking about you all summer." Percy said, as he dug in his breakfast. Ron snorted, "She's a bit annoying. So watch out, DJ."

Fred sighed dramatically, "She isn't annoying around the clock. Just to you, Ronnie."

Ron scowled, "Don't call me that!"

Mrs. Weasely sighed at the banter as though she had grown wary of it.

"Where's your father?" DJ asked Ron as he finished his pumpkin juice. He immediately refilled his glass.

"He's coming in the afternoon."

"You told that he works in the Ministry of Magic." Harry recalled. Ron nodded and took a bite, "Tah! Depathmeth thort mbithuth oth thuthet athifeth."

"Ron!" His mother scolded. Harry saw, out of his peripheral, Ginevra sneak in and sit next to Percy trying to be invisible. It wasn't working. Her cheeks were as red as her flaming hair. Harry could have sworn that he saw sparks in it.

"Sorry! Dad works in the Department for Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. Dad loves muggles, he thinks they're fascinating."

"Well, I think they're boring. Magic is awesome!" DJ exclaimed staring at the pan which was heating up the remaining food, on its own.

* * *

**This chapter was actually cut short. I'll update next week. Stay tuned for it!**

**Cabba.**


	4. Introducing Magic!

**I am soooooo sorry! My exams have begun and I thought I could manage 'a chapter in a week' but I couldn't! I swear the next one's gonna pop up within a fortnight. Give me two weeks to get my stuff together. This chapter is knid of a filler but also has something here. Let's see if you can spot it!**

**RedRangerBelt – You're close. **

**Weird'sMyName – That'll come up soon.**

**Strange, chapter 3 got half reviews compared to chapter 2…**

**I just published a new story – Forever. It's Percabeth!**

**Another one shot is going to come out. The theme is Christmas!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own the original works of HP. JKR does.**

**Words – 3082**

* * *

The life at Burrow was extremely different from the Dursleys. The ghoul, who lived in the attic above Ron's room, would wake them all up at about six. Everyone would be up at around eight when Mrs. Weasely's breakfast scent wafted throughout the house. Ron would then take Harry and DJ around the house and fields.

There was more to magic than just learning how or why to do it. How to incorporate magic seamlessly into life was a new topic for Harry and DJ.

The mirror on top of the mantle actually hassled DJ about his unruly hair and not to follow in Harry's footsteps as the latter was already doomed to the untamable black 'thing' on his head.

The clock in the kitchen told where every member of the Weasely family where. Home, School, Work, Travelling, Abroad, Shopping, Gringotts, St. Mungo's, Safe, Mortal Peril and of course, Asleep.

Nine hands with the names of the family members engraved on them were positioned around.

Arthur Weasely's was currently at Work.

Bill Weasely's and Charlie Weasely's – the eldest children – were at Abroad.

The rest were pointing at home.

The days were never planned. Unlike the Dursleys, the Weaselys were unexpected and their days were filled with family banters, surprises and sibling and parental relationships on a saner level.

The first day Harry had woken up, he had been rather shocked to know that he had slept for nearly four hours. That had never happened for years. The Burrow was definitely a good place for him.

Breakfast was an eventful affair. The entire family would hog down Mrs. Weasely's food and Harry had to admit that it was every bit as good as the Hogwarts' dishes and Sally's homemade sweets and delicacies. Harry missed those.

After breakfast, the Weasely boys had shown the Potters the art of de-gnoming a garden. That had been exhilarating as the gnomes would flock up to see them throw their friends across the fence. DJ was hesitant at hurting them at first, but that went away as the first gnome sunk its tiny teeth into his palm. DJ was able to throw all his gnomes across a small tree stump further out the fields.

The days were spent in talking about the previous summers and topics before Hogwarts. They had later taken a few old brooms out the broom shed for some flying around the fields. As long as they didn't fly too high, Mrs. Weasely allowed them. Fred and George were delighted that DJ seemed to be as good as Harry at flying.

"You're a natural, DJ! You sure this is your first time?" Ron asked. DJ laughed. "It's not like I could fly around the orphanage. I don't think I have even touched a broom. For flying that is."

Harry frowned as he saw DJ make a steep curve causing Fred and George to whoop. DJ was good. His body was small enough to glide around with an old type of broom. Harry wasn't sure whether a human body should be this natural at leaving the ground to fly.

Or may be professional fliers were like this. But DJ wasn't a professional. Something about his way of flying made Harry a little wary.

But DJ never felt out of place among the family. He had taken around to talking to Ginny whenever he could. Harry saw that she would mumble back to him but whenever she saw Harry looking at her, or him catching her looking at him, she would blush and her hair would have sparks.

It made Harry think that she was an Elemental. But the family already has Ron. To have another would be extremely unheard of. But not improbable.

"It's not Ginevra." Harry heard her say on a bright evening. DJ nodded thoughtfully at that.

"Why does Ron call you that?" Harry asked. He stood behind them and Ginny and DJ jumped at his voice.

"Jeez! You're like a ghost! I didn't even hear you!" DJ complained. Harry raised an eyebrow at that. He looked at Ginny whose face was steadily turning red at the sight of him.

"Ron's an idiot." She mumbled and turned away. DJ and Harry shared a significant look. Suddenly, Ron's voice came from the kitchen.

"OI! Harry! You won't believe this!"

Harry blinked and went down the rickety stairs. He could smell the aroma of buns and felt his stomach growling. May be Mrs. Weasely actually added magic in her food…?

"Look at this! We got another Hermione over here! Or rather, let's hope Hermione doesn't turn into another Harry Potter!" Ron crowed.

"What are you talking about?" Harry frowned and stared at the red-head as he waved a Wizard magazine above his head. Harry snatched it away and read the article page-marked by Ron.

.

_Harry Potter – Upcoming Prodigy!_

_In a surprising turn of events, The Waffling Wizard/Witch Genius Award was won by none other than the infamous Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, who will be attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his second year, this September. Mr. Potter's essay titled, 'Magical Theory and Practice' was placed in the highest order by the judges before they realized who the author was. Dennis Lambford, a highly revered ex-Transfiguration Professor of Hogwarts, had claimed the essay, a wonderful insight into how magic is thought by different people in our society. _

_Though a last minute entry, Mr. Potter had no intention of sending his essay to compete but was selected by Carter Waffling himself when he had visited Hogwarts a week into the Summer Holidays. The homework assignment had caught his attention at once. _

_What was most surprising was that the essay seemed to have been penned through years of experience on the matter whereas in fact, Mr. Potter has currently completed just one year of Magical Education. Waffling had declared The Boy-Who-Lived to be a prodigy in the learning and has high expectations for the young wizard. (Part of the essay can be read on page 16.)_

_._

"Whoa!" DJ exclaimed as he leaned over Harry to read the article.

"Your homework material has 'Gold' written all over it!" Ron joked. Harry sighed.

"What's going on?" Percy Weasely asked, entering the room. He shot an uncertain look at the magazine in Harry's hand and said, "Oh. Well, congratulations."

"Thanks."

"You don't seem happy?"

"That essay wasn't a homework assignment. I had written it to McGonagall when I thought that magic was considered too biased by people. It didn't seem right."

Ron shrugged, "Well, this'll get them thinking."

"I suppose so…"

Ron frowned at Harry's lack of enthusiasm. But before he could say anything else, Mrs. Weasely walked in and announced, "Come on, you lot! Have a quick breakfast. We have to be in Diagon Alley in two hours!"

DJ and Ron raced into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasely chuckled and looked at Harry.

"There might be a prize for that." She said and Harry nodded.

"I'll get it after the shopping. The competition was held in Diagon Alley, right?"

"Yes. Congratulations. I'll try to read it when I have the time. You need to eat now. You're far too thin."

"I'm not thin. This is how I should look!" Harry argued half-heartedly. The woman just patted his shoulder kindly and said, "Yes, I'm just saying that you need more of an appetite."

"Like Ron?"

She laughed.

* * *

"Flew?" DJ asked when all the Weaselys and Potters had gathered around the fireplace after getting on their robes.

"F-L-O-O" Harry specified.

"Floo powder. We stand in the fireplace and throw it in and say out loud the name of our official destination." Arthur Weasely said.

"Why?"

"It's called flooing." Ginny murmured. She still wasn't looking at Harry and this was starting to irk him.

"I'll go first." Percy said and took a handful of the powder carefully. He stepped into the fireplace and said, "Diagon Alley!" Dropping the powder, there was a green light which almost exploded into their eyes.

Harry was the last to recover.

"That's awesome." DJ muttered staring into the empty space. Ginny reached in to the small flower pot for the powder.

"I'm next. I'm good with fire." She said. Ron rolled his eyes and gave a muffled snort. She glared at him and did the same thing as Percy. To Harry's shock, the fire glowed red before she vanished.

"Isn't it supposed to be green?!"

"Not for Ginny. She makes it what colour she wants." Fred said and he went next.

"Huh. Why is that?"

"You'll figure it out." Ron said. There was a gleam in his eyes and Harry was immediately wary.

George went after Fred and Harry hesitated before saying, "I'll go."

"Be careful. Hold your breath and tuck in your elbows. Say the words clearly and close your eyes when the flames come into effect. It won't hurt you, but the irritation is a bit irritating."

Harry nodded and took the powder. He stepped into the fireplace. It wasn't too hot. Taking one last look of DJ he said, "Diagon Alley!" and dropped the powder.

Harry's luck was usually rather bad. Depending on the situation, he would fall into the worst pit possible just because he was Harry.

Though this effect was intensified in Percy Jackson's presence, Harry Potter could very well manage to wind up in a half-hopeless situation on his own.

And vice-versa.

"Damn it!" Harry shouted. He had just closed his eyes when the ground below him gave away and he was spinning faster than when Percy pushed him onto a Merry-go round in Crescent park, years ago. His knee hit a grate, his head bumped against the top of the next opening and he fell hard on marble.

Blinking hard, he looked up to come face-to face with Albus Dumbledore.

The two wizards stared at each other for a few minutes before Harry said, "Good morning, sir. How has your holidays been?"

"Rather pleasant. Nice of you to drop by, Harry. Although, this isn't my home, but one would assume that you had decided to visit here because of my presence." The older wizard said lightly, clearly delighted to see him.

Harry blinked and got up, dusting himself off. He looked around and did a double-take. He was standing in a large hall made of black marble flooring and high blue coloured walls. It seemed to be an all-functioning building because many wizards hurried around with stacks of papers, folders, bags, in groups, discussing about jobs, magic, robes and muggles.

There was a large fountain in the centre of the area. It had a golden gleam over it. Over the fountain, there was a hovering ensemble of five statues connected at the base. The tallest was that of a wizard, whose stance was offensive in battle and of power, beside him was a witch with a glorious smile, her wand clasped gently. They were surrounded by the statues of a centaur, goblin and a house-elf, all three of which had expressions of devotion on their faces.

"Horrible." Harry muttered.

"I must say, I don't think there has ever been an accidental floo transportation for months. And I'm quite certain that no one had ever entered into the Ministry of Magic unintentionally." Dumbledore commented and Harry gaped at him.

"The Ministry of Magic?"

"Headmaster! I forgot! You need these notes as well!" A short pudgy man ran over to them, breathing hard. He gave Dumbledore two files and turned to Harry.

"Who…who are you? You're not supposed to be here! Or do you have an appointment?" He wiped away the sweat off his forehead. He looked to be in his forties, being almost bald. His small eyes seemed beady and Harry wondered if his Core was physical.

"I'm Harry. No, I do not have an appointment."

The man stared at him and Harry pushed his cap further down on his head. His hair had grown over the holidays and he had also received Mrs. Weasely's distress over it. The good part was that it covered his forehead.

"But – "

"It's okay, Walter, I'll take him back. He's one of my students. Harry, shouldn't you be in Diagon Alley?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll drop you off. Give my regards to Cornelius, Walter." Dumbledore said and took Harry's shoulder to steer him back into the fireplace which he had just exited. Harry grimaced and took off his glasses.

He'd rather fly to Diagon Alley.

Traveling with Dumbledore wasn't as tedious as the first time. May be it was because Harry knew what to expect. Or maybe it was Dumbledore's way.

Harry stumbled out of the grate and rubbed his face off the soot. He looked around to see that they were in the Leaky Cauldron. The small pub seemed to be a bit busier than the last time he had come here.

"Molly will be going frantic." Dumbledore muttered. He pointed his wand at Harry and the soot fell off completely.

"I've only been gone for a few minutes." Harry pointed out. Dumbledore just smiled and said, "On another note, congratulations on winning–"

"I didn't enter! That essay was not homework! Professor." Harry added at the end.

"Carter didn't seemed to care about that. He was quite shocked at the message it sent."

"Message?" Harry whispered to himself. Dumbledore shook his head when Tom, the bar-tender made a gesture of offering something.

"And there they are." He said smiling at the open archway. Harry turned to see a flustered Mrs. Weasely hurry up to them.

"Oh Merlin! Harry, are you alright? When the boys said you hadn't arrived, I was so worried!"

She kept brushing his robe and Harry mumbled, "No, it's okay. I'm fine. The Headmaster helped me."

She looked up and blinked, "Oh, Albus! Thank you, it was his first time. Someone should have gone with him!"

"Where's DJ?" Harry asked looking around.

"Don't worry, they're waiting for you at the entrance."

After Dumbledore left, Mrs. Weasely ushered him towards Diagon Alley. Ron was the first person to spot Harry.

"Hey Harry! Where did you end up at?"

"Knockturn Alley?" George asked spinning around.

"No…The Ministry." Harry said looking around the entire place. It was almost as breathtaking at Hogwarts. DJ didn't even pay any attention to him as he kept asking Mr. Weasely about…well, everything.

"Seriously?!"

"Oh, Harry! Good!" Mr. Weasely said in relief. His wife was now brushing Harry's hair. In public.

"Um…Mrs. Weasely? I think my hair's fine…"

"It's much too long."

"It's always like that. It lives on its own." Harry said trying to explain. Ron laughed and shook his head.

"Where to now?"

Mr. Weasely looked around and said, "I'm taking you and Daniel to Gringotts. The others are heading towards Southside Diagon Alley first. We already have our money."

"I can take him, Mr. Weasely." Harry said. He wanted to show DJ everything the family owned.

"It might take a while."

The man looked surprised, "Are you sure? Harry, I think you'll be more comfortable with me."

Harry shook his head. He knew the exact way towards both vaults. He wanted it to be a sole Potter scene.

"We can manage ourselves, Mr. Weasely."

He hesitated but Mrs. Weasely cut in, "You're not going in their alone! You could get lost!"

"No, I won't. I remember the way." Harry said easily and she stared at him.

"But, the Goblins may not appreciate it if they don't see adult humans." She said albeit lamely. Harry blinked.

"I read about them. They'll let me in. I'm head of my family."

That shut Mrs. Weasely up. Suddenly Harry could see a bit of moisture in her eyes and regretted saying it.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasely, I know to be polite to them. I just want to show DJ everything of ours. It may take a while. We'll head straight for Madame Malkin's when we get out." Harry said in a softer voice.

She sighed.

Mr. Weasely saw them off the steps towards the large white building.

"You said Goblins?" DJ asked as they climbed up. Harry patted his shoulder.

"They're smart and cunning. Don't underestimate them. They have magic much different than what we use. It's actually quite fascinating. There are only a handful of humans who show genuine respect to them."

DJ found the rhyme/message threatening to say the least. But the interior of the building took his breath away.

They walked up to the highest counter like the last time and Harry cleared his throat to get the old goblin's attention. He was the same one as before.

"Yes?" The goblin asked without looking up.

"We wish to draw use our trust fund and vault." Harry said. The goblin looked up and frowned.

"Key, please?"

DJ watched as Harry took out a small golden key and handed it to the goblin.

"Gornuk!" He called and they went towards the set of gold double doors.

"I wasn't expecting this…" DJ mumbled as he stared at the dark tracks and cart.

"Scared?" Harry asked. DJ snorted and climbed in.

Harry was keeping track of the directions when the cart took an unexplained right.

"The path's different than last time!" He asked Gornuk. The goblin stared at him shrewdly before saying, "Each time is different. There are various tracks to one vault."

"It's a maze." Harry mumbled. DJ laughed aloud as they passed a steep curve and then stopped abruptly.

"That's ours?" He asked Harry as they climbed out.

"You haven't even seen what's inside and you're spell-bound? Pun not intended."

"What's a pun?"

"Pun, or paronomasia, is a form of word play to give a rhetorical effect to the conversation, comment or remark."

DJ stared at him, spell-bound.

"Words which have double meanings."

"Oh! Yeah."

Gornuk opened the vault and Harry walked in. The two piles were untouched from last time.

"All that is family money?!" DJ asked shocked.

"No. It's for our schooling. We have the family vault separately. This is the trust fund and that pile's yours."

"Mine? What the hell should I do with it?"

"Buy stuff."

Harry said and took the pouch which he had bought for DJ.

"This is yours. These gold coins are galleons."

Harry explained the system and let DJ take a limited amount from his set while he filled his own pouch.

"Family vault too?" DJ asked.

"Yes." Harry shot a look at Gornuk who mumbled something in Gobbledegook. The second year made it a point to learn it.

* * *

**Hope it was good enough. I'm actually gonna keep these stories short till Harry and Percy get together again. And for any confused parties, it's not going to be a Slash. Most main characters are cannon except when my OCs are concerned.**

**My new tactic. Question of the day!**

**In Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse, what commonality did Percy, Annabeth and Luke acquire after taking the Curse?**

**Stay tuned for more!**

**Cabba. **


	5. Back Home

**PJO fans are right. Percy, Annabeth and Luke now sport a grey streak in a few of their hair strands. Side effect of holding up the sky.**

_**RedRangerBelt**_** and **_**Weird'sMyName**_**, calm down! Your guesses are clever. I'm glad you're trying to figure it all out. Let's see when Harry can get to the bottom of it.**

**Disclaimer : I don't own the HP or PJO series.**

**Words – 4239**

* * *

"Please?! Please, please, please!"

"I am not buying you a solid gold cauldron!" Harry said, exasperated and DJ sulked at that.

"Pewter looks dull."

"Pewter is what First and Second years are supposed to use."

"Third years?"

"Third, fourth and fifth are supposed to have brass. Sixth and seventh years use copper. Depends on the standard of the potions we have to use. They keep changing the type every year. Speaking of which, when you get to your potions class, the cauldron is the last thing you'll worry about." Harry said.

"Because of Snake?"

"Snape."

"What's the difference? Don't tell me!" DJ interjected when Harry opened his mouth. They got the cauldron, a set of weighing brass scales (this isn't pewter?), a brass telescope (this isn't either), glass and crystal phials (not pewter?) and five student quills.

"I don't know how to write with a feather." DJ said examining a long white quill.

"It's about the grip and balance. It's much lighter than a pen, so you have to focus on that. And no, we aren't buying multi-coloured ink."

Harry bought a bottle of ink for himself when Bolt said, 'Magic flux.'

'What?'

'Something's about to happen.' She said and stayed quiet. Harry absentmindedly pulled DJ away from a shelf which displayed moon globes.

They went into the Magical Menagerie, next. The dark shop had several owls, bats, ravens, toads, cats and rats.

"A dog? Like Bolt?" DJ asked hopefully. Harry shook his head. The younger boy sighed and went in to see the animals. Harry lingered as he watched DJ inspect the animals and birds until choosing a light brown coloured barn owl. It was smaller than Hedwig and had smart brown eyes which stared at its to-be-owner.

The boy didn't seem perturbed at all. Harry shrugged. The owl looked like good company for Hedwig and DJ.

"Thought of a name?" Harry asked as they left the counter with the haughty looking owl preening its feathers in its cage.

"I'll think of one." DJ said complacently.

They were about to exit the shop when DJ froze.

"Do you feel that?" He asked Harry urgently.

"Feel what?"

"I don't…know. It's weird…"

Harry frowned and looked around through the crowd. The Weasely's were coming out of Ollivander's and Ron and to Harry's surprise, Hermione too, jogged up to them. She beamed at Harry and DJ suddenly whipped his head to stare at her.

"Got your stuff?"

Harry waited for DJ to calm down. Ron looked at the younger boy and whispered to Harry, "What's up with him?"

Harry whispered back, "Not sure. He said he feels something."

Hermione blinked and waved her hand in front of DJ's face. The boy snapped out and said, "Yikes."

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Who are you?" DJ asked Hermione, ignoring everyone else.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Second year."

DJ stared at her until she blushed. Ron looked confused.

"Why are you doing that?" Harry asked shaking DJ out of his trance.

"I dunno. There's something about her."

Harry and Ron stared at Hermione as though she was about to sprout wings and fly. The only thing she did was blush harder.

"May be it's a magic flux. Some people are sensitive to–" She mumbled.

"I'm sensitive to magic auras. And so is Ron. If we didn't feel anything–" Harry interrupted her. She had said the exact same phrase as Bolt did. Either she was hiding something, or her subconscious was.

"Hermione?" Another voice called her and the four of them turned around to see a man who looked muggle. He had brown hair and black eyes and it was obvious that he was her father. They had the same hair.

"Oh! Daddy, these are my friends. This is Ron Weasely, Harry Potter and his cousin Daniel Potter." She said, looking a little flustered.

Mr. Granger shook hands with them and said, "I already met Arthur. Your father seems very exuberant." He mentioned to Ron.

"Um…yeah. He's like that." Ron said and DJ leaned to see Ginny wave him towards Flourish and Blotts.

The group walked into the very crowded shop. DJ blinked and said, "There are books on the ceiling. Why are they books on the ceiling?"

"They probably didn't have any other place for them." Harry answered and Mrs. Weasely ushered then towards the front.

"We'll be able to see him in a moment." She said. She stood next to a brown haired woman who smiled at the children. Hermione's mother seemed kind.

"Oh dear!" She gasped and Mrs. Weasely sighed a bit dreamily.

"Oh please." Mr. Weasely muttered while Mr. Granger simply seemed bemused.

"It's him!" Hermione said excitedly and she and Ginny stood on their tip-toes.

"Who?" DJ asked trying to look through the crowd which, oddly, consisted of mostly witches.

"Gilderoy Lockhart!"

Fred and George pretended to fan themselves while DJ snickered. Harry and Ron leaned around to see a tall blonde man whose periwinkle blue robes swished around as he moved. His blue eyes and bright blonde hair gave him an actor's impression. He grinned at everyone and didn't flinch when a camera man rushed forward to take his photo.

"Mum fancies him." Ron muttered. Harry rolled his eyes and examined a pile of Lockhart's books on the shelf next to him.

"Out of the way! This is for the Daily prophet!" A stout man yelped as he pushed through the crowd holding a large camera whose flash blinded half the people in the shop.

"5 galleons for each book?!" Harry hissed looking at the price tag.

Half the people in the shop turned to look at him. Unfortunately, Lockhart was one of them.

"Merlin's beard! It can't be Harry Potter!"

"Where?!" Harry wondered turning around. He gave Ron a pointed look and the red-headed caught up.

"Really? Harry Potter's here!"

"I can't see him!" Hermione wailed.

"Oh no! I want to get his autograph!" DJ yelled.

"Wait! Is that him?" Harry asked pointing outside the shop. Everyone ran out, including the photographer.

The Weaselys, Grangers, Potters and Lockhart were left. Fred and George were on the ground laughing.

"Um…"

"Eight sets of your works, please." Harry said.

…

"That was brilliant!" Ron choked as they left the shop. He lifted his hand up towards Harry.

"What?" Harry asked staring at his hand.

"Was waiting for a high-five…" Ron muttered and lowered his arm.

Percy. J had always said that Harry was bad at those.

"I think it's all done –" Mr. Weasely began, but then Harry interrupted.

"DJ has to get his wand!"

DJ spun around trying to search for the wand shop.

While the others went towards the Leaky Cauldron, the two Potters made their way to Ollivanders. The shop was tall and dark and Harry could feel a slight shiver like the last time he was close to it.

The old wand maker was at the table inspecting a piece of parchment when they entered. He looked up and nodded.

"Yes. Holly and phoenix feather. Eleven inches and supple, was it not?" Mr. Ollivander croaked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir." The man stood up and greeted DJ.

"Daniel Potter. Yes, yes. Step closer."

DJ held his breath and walked forwards. Mr. Ollivander looked at him closely and then blinked.

"Oh!"

Harry stared, "Wha – "

There was a 'bang' from inside the shop and a box flew out from the shelves straight towards DJ. Harry caught it before it could hit anyone.

The wand maker quietly took the box and opened it. He stared at the contents before saying, "Red-wood and Unicorn hair, ten and one-fourth inches. Swishy."

He handed the wand to DJ who took it nervously. The dust swirled around their feet and Harry smelt fresh air as though they were in a field of bright wild plants with soft sunlight.

"Seven Galleons." The man muttered. DJ was still staring at his new wand, so Harry paid for it.

As they left the shop, Harry turned to see Mr. Ollivander still staring at them in half-shock, half-excitement.

* * *

Harry could not make much sense of what had taken place in the wand shop, but he was quite sure that it had something to do with DJ's Core. The young boy's aura was stable and concealing itself within him. Harry had only seen it once. And that was when DJ had first met Hermione.

DJ's body had a tinge of faint blue to it, while Hermione's eyes seemed to glow, if only for a second.

Harry was sure that Ron had seen it too.

But they hadn't any time to talk about it. In fact, everyone in the Burrow was rushing around gathering and packing their trunks for their upcoming year in Hogwarts.

"Ron! Get your socks in your trunk, right now! George! Please, comb your hair! Ginny! Are all your books in? Harry, no let me do that! Fred, could you go find Percy? Daniel. Don't carry it by yourself! Arthur, please bring out the car!"

Mrs. Weasely seemed to swell up with the extra air in her lungs when she barked out the orders. The answers she got were shouted, yelled and composedly said almost at the same time.

"They _are_ in!"

"I can't find the my, Mum!"

"Almost done!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Weasely."

"Oi! Lughead!"

"I can do it!"

"All ready, dear!"

It seemed like an eternity when they finally piled in seven trunks, three owl cages, a rat cage, some back packs and themselves, being nine in number.

Harry realized that Mr. Weasely must have enchanted the car to fit in so many people and all the belongings. Extension Charm? That had to be tricky. He adjusted his cap and leaned back.

They reached King's Cross with fifteen minutes to eleven. The late morning made the station on the muggle side as crowded as on the wizard side.

When they passed through the barrier and saw the beautiful red and black engine of the Hogwarts Express, Harry couldn't help but be impressed. It was still magnificent.

"Yikes." DJ muttered and rolled his trunk onto Harry's foot.

Within a few minutes, as the train pulled out of the station, they lingered by the door and opened the windows to give their last good-byes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasely. Harry really did owe them. He never had a more enjoyable summer ever since the Jacksons left.

For a moment, he actually felt a pang of pain in his chest. He gritted his teeth. It's been nearly four years since they'd left, and he had no connection from them. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was a wizard, he might have run away from the Dursleys and tried to get to New York.

If that was really where they went.

But she wouldn't lie to him, would she? Sally loved him like her own son. Percy was, for all intentions and purposes, his younger brother. Besides, they truly didn't want to leave, right? They wanted to be with him.

"Harry? Come back to Earth, Ron wants to find Hermione." DJ said snapping his fingers in Harry's face.

"Uh…yeah."

Ginny trailed along a little reluctantly after the three boys. DJ was obsessed in listening to Harry's and Ron's talks on Quidditch. They had been walking for about half an hour, now, when Ron finally sighed.

"May be, she's on another compartment." Harry muttered. Ginny sighed and looked back.

"I'm sitting here." She said and opened the door to the nearest compartment and sat with a sigh. DJ looked at Harry and Ron sighed too.

"Fine…"

"Tell me more about the Cannons." DJ asked Ron. It seemed fascinating to him why someone would support a continuously under-performing team.

"They have talent. They just need to figure out how –"

"Everyone knows that the Holyhead Harpies are the best." Ginny mumbled staring out the window. Ron gave her a glare which she didn't see.

"You just like them because the entire group consist if girls!"

"That's why it's the best." She said in a 'duh' tone.

"Girls aren't supposed to like Quidditch." Ron murmured. Ginny stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "That's stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

She got up with a huff and stormed out.

"Satisfied?" Harry asked Ron.

"You sound like Hermione." He grumbled.

"Who exactly are the Holyhead Harpies?" DJ asked.

After two hours, the Lunch Lady stopped by. DJ busied himself with half a dozen Crunchy Chocolate Frogs while Harry got up.

"Be back in a mo'."

Without waiting for a response, Harry left. He walked about for a while before slipping into the bathroom, right next to the luggage compartment.

Harry sighed and washed his face. Thinking about Percy made him feel bitter. He felt angry that his Mum had to go and leave the country because some stupid signs she saw around them. True, Percy's reason for being expelled was absolutely bogus. Classified as a freak accident got him kicked out because he was one of the two resident freaks.

Harry blinked and looked up into the mirror. His reflection raised an eyebrow.

"Want me to say something heart-warming about how they're going to come back for you? A beautiful reunion filled with tears and sappy words of regret and happiness?"

"Shut up." Harry mumbled.

"I bet Percy wouldn't talk back to his reflection like that!"

Harry ignored him just walked out when the path was blocked by Marcus Flint who smirked down at him. Harry noticed four of his minions behind him.

"Spectacular!" His reflection groaned.

"Great, term hasn't started yet, and my eyes are already being befouled." Flint said and his acquaintances laughed.

"Then close them and jump out of the train." Harry's reflection muttered.

Harry ignored everyone and tried to push Flint out of the way. The Slytherin staggered back as though surprised at Harry's strength.

"Runt!" He called in a pathetic voice.

Harry didn't even cross another step before he heard Flint roar with laughter.

"Blood traitor's not much to look at, huh?"

Feeling that it wasn't Harry he was talking about, he turned to see the Slytherins surrounding a small red-headed girl, clutching her brown backpack. Ginny tried to glare at them but they only laughed harder.

"Pick on somebody your own size!" Harry shouted going back towards them.

"Hah! What? A stupid little girl actually means something to you, Potter?!"

Harry didn't say anything but surged forwards and helped Ginny up from the ground. He could see that she was blinking back her tears. Flint had said almost exactly what Ron had said in his frustration.

"Come on." He murmured to her.

It was probably luck. Wait… no, it was pure skill and reflex that Harry felt Flint's hand zip forward through the air to push them both.

Harry turned around and grabbed his hand by the wrist and bent it. Not enough to break, but just enough make a sharp pain shoot through Flint's forearm.

"Do _not_ try to attack me." Harry said, his voice like steel. "Especially from behind my back."

One of the other sixth years took out his wand, but Harry ducked and pushed Ginny down too. She tumbled and her bag flew out of her hands, four books spilling out. A red spell had just missed them. It hit the glass which shattered.

"Leave him alone!" Ginny cried.

"Look, Potter! You got yourself a girlfriend!" One of them taunted. Harry, still on the ground, kicked his ankle and he fell.

The rest of them took out their wands too. Harry took one look at the luggage compartment behind them and flipped out his wand, faster than them.

He flicked his wrist and imagined strings connecting the trunks to his wand. He pulled.

He probably shouldn't have done it in anger.

Nearly twenty trunks flew out and slammed against the Slytherins. Ginny screamed.

"Ginny!" Hermione's voice came and she stared in shock at the scene.

The Slytherins were groaning. The trunks had just knocked them over, but neither of them made an attempt to get up.

"Hello, Hermione. Been looking for you." Harry said putting his wand back in his pocket.

The second year stared at him faintly before helping Ginny pack in her books.

"What have you been doing?!" Percy's (W) voice came about and he stopped and stared at the debris of glass, trunks and students.

"They started it." Ginny said quickly.

Percy frowned at Flint and waved his wand at the glass. It repaired itself.

"I'll have to report them. Did they –"

"Try to attack us? Yes. Did they fail? Stupendously." Harry filled in. Both Hermione and Ginny muffled their giggles.

"What do you expect? They're Flint's gang." Another voice came about and Lee Jordan peeked in to see the space between the compartment, outer door and bathroom crowded.

"All of you, out!" Percy. W commanded but then groaned when Fred and George looked in too.

'At least you found Hermione. Where's she been?' Bolt asked unexpectedly.

"Now you wake up." Harry muttered adjusting his cap.

* * *

Hermione had been with the other Gryffindor Second year girls. But she did sit with Harry and Ron later. Ginny went away again, not wanting to be anywhere near Ron. DJ groaned about missing the action.

"What did they mean by 'Blood Traitors'?" Hermione asked, looking at Ron. Ron frowned at the question but said, "Basically we support Muggleborns. Some people call themselves Purebloods because they think they're above the rest of us, 'cause they don't have any non- magical blood in them. It's disgusting."

Hermione looked alarmed at that. DJ said, "That's horrible! People do that?"

"Yeah. Hermione, don't listen to them. They have all these bad words but don't believe them, alright. You and Harry are one of the best in our year and the both of you have muggle blood. I think Dad loves you more than me."

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Hermione asked.

"Was it funny?"

"A bit."

"Then laugh."

* * *

Hogwarts stopped finally after nine hours of having DJ on a sugar rush. Harry decided to limit the amount of sugar intake in a day. He didn't want to end up with another Percy. J.

"Yikes." DK whispered, staring up at the illuminated castle against the navy blue back drop of the dark sky.

"Firs' years! Over here! Don' be shy!" Hagrid's voice and lantern could be heard and seen.

"That's you, DJ. Stick close to Hagrid. He's a great friend." Harry said. DJ looked a little frantic before asking in a whisper, "How do they sort us?"

"You'll find it out." Harry replied. DJ didn't seem happy with that answer.

"I won't go into Slytherin, right?"

"DJ, it doesn't matter to me where you go."

"It matters to me! I mean, my Mum was in Gryffindor, but my Dad was in Ravenclaw. Where am I supposed to go?! What if I get into Hufflepuff?! Or worse! Slytherin?"

DJ truly looked scared now. Harry sighed and pulled him aside. "Look, I'm sure your parents would love no matter where you go. You're not dishonouring them by getting sorted elsewhere. You will go where you belong in. It is a very unbiased way of sorting, so don't worry. You'll make a dozen friends in any house you'll go into."

"Even Slytherin?" Harry could hear the skepticism in his voice.

"Not all Slytherins are bad. There's a boy in my year who's quite decent."

DJ still looked wary. Harry ruffled his hair and said, "Go on. Trust me, it'll turn out alright."

DJ sighed but ran towards Hagrid who had been waiting for him. Harry walked towards the carriages parked in a row.

"We get the carriages. George says some of them smell like dung." Ron said, gesturing to them.

"Mature, Ron." Hermione mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"George was the one who said it!"

"You still believe what he says?"

Harry sighed as he opened the door to let his two best bickering fri…two bickering best frie… two best friends who bicker all the time.

"Harry! Wait!" Harry turned to see Neville running upto them.

"Hey, Nev. How come I never see you at the start of the train journey?"

"I was with Ginny for a while. And then this blond girl came in. She's a first year along with Ginny, so they went towards Hagrid.

"Come on in." Harry gestured before catching the sight of two other dorm mates.

"Dean! Hey, Seamus! I think we have room for two more." Harry invited and the two boys grinned at him.

"Hey, guys." Seamus said. Ron grinned back at them as Harry closed the door. He was glad that there was no top to the carriage. The black thin horse walked forwards and Bolt leaped out of Harry's shoulder. Everyone jumped.

"Bolt, will you stop doing that?!" Harry asked exasperated. Bolt gave Harry a look before climbing onto Hermione's lap.

"That's still very weird, even for you, Harry." Dean said shaking his head and laughing.

Harry just rolled his eyes and looked up at the castle. The beauty was still the same if not more. The horse steadily pulled them up to the main doors. The light that spilled out made Harry blink.

It wasn't exactly a horse.

It was completely black with skeletal wings, folded on its sides. The eyes were large and more intelligent looking as though it was trying to speak to him.

"Harry? Lets go." Hermione called. Bolt leapt from her hands and back into Harry.

'Thestrals.' She told him. Harry took one last look at it before entering the Great Hall.

"Shucks, it never gets old." Ron said as he looked up at the enchanted ceiling of the large, grand area. Four tables placed parallel to each other and a Teachers' table placed on the short dais.

Albus Dumbledore sat at the head, his face adorning a large smile for all the students. To his right, the chair was empty. Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, Gryffindor Headmistress and Transfiguration Professor. Leaving her seat and Hagrid's, the rest of the table was filled.

Severus Snape, a professor of astonishing short temperament towards Gryffindors sat in his usual black robes. His hair was a greasy mess as usual. At least, Harry's was a clean mess.

Harry always related people's personalities through their hair. It was something Percy. J had pointed out to him once.

McGonagall was a strict and smart person. Like her hair.

Dumbledore had a stern but age old quality of forgiveness and understanding. Like his hair.

Snape… well it explained for itself.

The professor in question gave him a hard glare. Ron's brother must have already told the teachers about the attack.

"Potter!" Harry turned around to see McGonagall standing by the entrance. Harry gave Ron a glance before walking towards the teacher.

"Good evening Professor."

"You were attacked?"

"Yes. But I'm fine, thank you."

She gave him a stern look. Harry simply looked back and said, "No, really. Ginny and I are fine."

"Ms. Weasely had assured her brother. But perhaps I should get you into the Hospital Wing…?"

"No! Really. Professor, I'm fine!"

She sighed and straightened her robes. "Very well. I have to see to the First Years. Take your seat, Potter. And remove your cap!"

Harry sighed in relief. The beds of the Hospital Wing were much too soft. He didn't do soft.

"How long do we have to wait here for the First Years to come and get sorted?" Ron asked desperately. Just then, the doors opened wide. McGonagall entered followed by the First-years, timidly. Harry heard their gasps of awe as they stared at everyone and everything.

She told them about the Sorting and placed a large black, torn and frayed hat on the stool.

Harry wondered whether it would have a song like the last time, when the hat opened its mouth and started to sing.

_Welcome one, welcome all_

_Children, short and tall_

_I simply sing a song_

_To decide which house you belong._

_Some will go into Slytherin_

_Being sly and cunning,_

_Some into Ravenclaw_

_Whose knowledge will help you thaw,_

_Or maybe Hufflepuff_

_If you're loyal and tough,_

_Or maybe Gryffindor_

_With bravery such as yours?_

_Four houses, one decision_

_But that's not really precision,_

_The answer is deep in your mind_

_Similar to those of your kind,_

_Not so easy, not so simple,_

_To send you into your temple_

_Especially with dangers forseen_

_Through colours, green_

_Hold your head_

_So darkness shed_

_Put me on_

_As I end this song._

The Hall was silent until a few started clapping. Then everyone joined in.

"Was that a warning?" Hermione asked turning around towards Harry and Ron.

"Sounds like that." Harry mumbled. At first, he had been surprised by blatant sorting of houses. Cunning – Slytherin. Wise – Ravenclaw.

But then, when the Hat tried to include something else… the song was too short.

McGonagall started calling the names. Harry spun around trying to see where DJ was. He spotted Ginny's red hair which was quivering. Or maybe, she was shaking. Beside her, DJ stood, his face quite pale.

"Potter, Daniel!"

Harry watched as his cousin made his way to the three legged stool. Whispers broke out in the hall and many people tried to get a good look of DJ and Harry as well.

The Hat sat on his head for about five seconds when it shouted, "Gryffindor!"

* * *

**Late, yeah… At least, it's long!**

**(Might be a spoiler question for some…)**

**Q : In the Mark of Athena, who finds out the first that Percy and Annabeth fell asleep together on the glass doors?**

**Stay tuned!**

**Cabba.**


	6. Reality and dreams

**Note – I think some of you have already guessed, but I'm declaring 'The Warm Touch' as not part of the Pumki universe. Just consider it separately. Some differences in facts surrounding the plot. (In case you don't know, it's a one-shot based on Harry/Ginny.)**

**I put up a new one-shot, Scars Unseen. Young Harry and Percy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the original works of Harry Potter. I use this creation to the extent of JKR's permission.**

**Words –3451**

* * *

The weirdest thing that happened during the first night of Hogwarts was the attention the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher received. Most girls sighed happily and clapped loudly. Most boys were in shock. None of the teachers were happy. Everyone else tried not to laugh.

The dinner was grand and delicious as Harry remembered from the last time. The First years tried to stuff themselves with everything they could reach. Or maybe they were trying to see what the older students were doing. Everyone, except for Harry, was hungry.

Harry, though, paid more attention to the new teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, whose teeth sparkled even when he wasn't smiling. It all seemed very strange for some reason.

Later, when Harry sat up in his bed at about midnight, finally giving up on his attempts to sleep, he sighed.

He knew that if he did fall asleep, he'd dream about things he didn't want to think about. Like the Jacksons.

He rubbed his forehead and slipped out of bed. His year mates were still snoring.

Making sure that Bolt as still asleep, he rummaged his trunk for his Invisibility Cloak. But his hands brushed along something before that.

He stared at it. It had been a long time since he had seen it. He picked up the book. It had formerly belonged to his mother, Lily, in which she had written lyrics for her own composed songs. There were about a dozen and Harry could tell that they were inspired mostly from her life in Hogwarts.

Picking at the edge of the red cover, he flipped through the pages. More than half the book was blank. He wondered if she had been alone now, would the book be complete?

He stared at it for a while before leaning down to grab a pencil out of his stationary pouch. He wasn't about to write a song, but if he wrote about the Jacksons, he might feel better.

Wasn't that what Mum had said? Write songs? Well, he wasn't writing down songs, per se, if he just wrote down some of his thoughts…or may be just a sentence… well, he should feel better, right?

Harry sighed and wrote the first sentence, _Free is something, I am not…_

* * *

It was a good thing he ordered the Daily Prophet by post. The news was most certainly a bit more interesting than the muggle papers.

The rumpling of the paper sounded loud in the empty Hall. Harry was the first to reach there and didn't bother waiting for anyone else as he started on his toast.

Unfortunately, the first news he read was about Gilderoy Lockhart. The moving black and white photo had an air of superiority which reminded him of muggle TV stars.

Bolt gave a yawn and jumped out. Landing like a cat on the bench, she stretched out and shook her head.

'You didn't sleep, did you?' She asked. Harry stared at her.

"I tried to."

'But you didn't.'

Harry took another bite. The action answered her question.

'This is really serious, Harry. Is it that you don't want to sleep, or that you can't?'

Harry thought about that. He never really got much sleep. But that was because most of his dreams weren't really pleasant. He hated that his mind could create his own fear. It was best to not sleep.

Bolt sighed. She took a bite of his toast and frowned.

'Orange jam? Really?'

* * *

When Ron and Hermione finally did come down, nearly half the Hall was full. Harry was done with the book 'Riddle of the Goblins' when Hermione and Ron sat on either side of him.

"Whoa. What the bloody hell is that?!" Ron asked staring at the large book.

"Gobbledegook. Wanted to learn it." Harry mumbled, not taking his eyes of the page. Hermione frowned, "You can't just learn a language like that, Harry. It takes months of written and verbal practice."

"Uh huh. _You_ can't learn it like this. I can. I'm rather good with languages. Or that's what Mum used to say."

The words had slipped out. His head was full of the ancient texts, the year's portions, his exercise, the Jacksons and his Core that he said without thinking. It hadn't happened for a long time.

Ron and Hermione stared at him. Harry focused so hard at the corner of a page that he was surprised when it hadn't burnt out.

"Um, Harry?"

Before she got any further, a violent flash nearly blinded Harry who dropped his book. He blinked twice before the scene came into focus slowly.

"Yikes, Colin! You didn't have to do that so… well, you could have warned him!" DJ's voice came as did his face and Harry looked at him.

His cousin was standing next to a blond short boy with excited eyes and a camera in his hands.

"Hey, Harry. This is my dorm mate, Colin Creevey." DJ introduced. The blonde looked a little nervous and excited.

"Um, nice to meet you Colin." Harry said when he got his bearings. Colin stared at him before tripping over his words, "It's fantastic to meet you! Harry Potter! Uh… could I,… I mean, can I have your autograph?"

Ron snorted on his Pumpkin juice and Hermione glared at him. DJ kept his mouth shut so that he wouldn't burst out laughing at Harry's dumbfounded expression.

"Why?" Harry asked confused.

"So that have proof that I meet you and we talked!"

"Proof?"

"Just because."

Harry stared at him and said slowly, "No, actually, I don't do autographs. Never thought about it either. So… I mean, we're going to stay here for the next six years. That's proof enough, I think."

Colin's eyes widened.

"That's exactly what I said!" He shouted to DJ. "We're all going to be here for six years! Seven with you DJ! I still can't believe it!"

Suffice to say, Harry went to his first class in a slight daze.

* * *

He soon disliked Lockhart as much as Snape. This was one of the reasons.

"Seven bloody books. Seven thick glossy designed books. I read them. More than seven eighth of it is rubbish." Harry mumbled as they reached the new DADA classroom.

"You're changing the subject." Hermione said sharply. Harry rolled his eyes and walked faster.

"No, just listen, Harry. It's not about what you said that time. It's just that, the way you said it –"

"So it _is_ about what I said. Let it go, Hermione. I wasn't thinking." Harry said and knocked on the door.

The door opened and Harry stared at the much too happy professor who grinned at everyone.

Oh, Merlin! He changed his robes after breakfast! Was he a teenage girl or something?

"Aha! Welcome, Second years! In you go!" Lockhart said jovially. He looked down as Harry removed his cap and stuffed it into his robes.

"Harry Potter!"

Harry looked up, "Are you taking attendance, Professor?"

"No, but it's a pleasure seeing you. Can you believe it?!"

"I… I live here." Harry mumbled.

"A mere Hogwarts student! Not to worry, Harry. You'll get your shot at fame."

Lockhart closed the door as everyone else filed in the class.

And what a delightful class it was.

* * *

"Give me one good reason… no, give me a sane reason, why someone would let a horde of pixies free in a classroom!" Ron yelled as Neville, Hermione, Harry and Ron left the debris filled class.

"He must have wanted to give us some first-hand experience."

"He…Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing!" Ron exclaimed.

"You've read his books!"

"I was forced to."

Harry rubbed his forehead. Neville moaned about his ears which were still red. The class had been a disaster, to say the least. Lockhart had released Cornish pixies into a class full of twelve year olds and one incompetent man who lost his wand in the process.

All through the day, Harry did his best to avoid Lockhart. The man seemed rather determined to forget the class they had and search for Harry. Unfortunately, after lunch, he ran straight into Colin Creevey.

"Harry!"

"Oh, hi, Colin."

"I just wanted to ask again. Just one autograph!"

Harry sighed and said, "Colin, look, I'm not giving you an autograph –"

"Autograph? Really, Potter?" A snide voice said from behind them and everyone turned around to see Marcus Flint stand there, a smirk on his face. Ron groaned silently.

"Hey! Line up! Potter's giving out signed photos!"

"Real mature, Flint." Harry said harshly when another voice interrupted him.

"Signed photos?"

Harry turned around and paled. (Not really, that was just an expression, seeing as he couldn't go any paler.)

Lockhart came into view, his light blue robes swishing around. "Harry! Fancy meeting you here!"

"It's the Great Hall." Harry muttered, trying to look around him. Lockhart gestured him towards the corridor.

"What's this about signed photos? Ah! Mr. Creevey, that's a fine looking camera. A double photo and we'll both sign it, how about that?"

He slung his arm around Harry's shoulder but missed because the second-year ducked out of the way.

"I am not signing anything!"

Lockhart stared at him in shock, "But Harry, you need to know the ropes!"

"Ropes?" Harry demanded.

"Well, yes. I think I can pretty much say, on behalf of the Wizarding world, that you are going to grow up to be somebody. You need to know how to handle the fame."

Ron gave a snort as he watched Harry's expression of disbelief.

"Fame?"

"Now, look here, young Harry. I know you're pretty much of a nobody, but some day, you may be as famous as even me!"

Harry's jaw was open as he looked up at the grinning professor. His brain seemed to have lost a few cells. But he quickly recovered and said, "I can't."

Lockhart blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"I…" Harry stared at Colin, his camera, Ron, Hermione, Flint, Lockhart and a gave a momentary glance at everyone else who was watching the scene. "I… can't… do an autograph!"

Ron seemed to have a choking fit.

Lockhart seemed mystified at that.

"Yeah… whenever I try to sign, the quills tickle my knuckles and the name never comes out right. Besides, they're too light, so it may take me a few years to get that down…"

Harry started to inch his way down the corridor. Suddenly, Lockhart gave a gasp of understanding that made everyone jump.

"I have just the thing to solve this problem!"

Harry's eyes widened. "No! Sir, I mean… it will come to me naturally –"

"What you need –" Lockhart said dramatically " – is practice!"

* * *

Herbology was probably the only safe haven left. They were in green house 3 and Harry had a very stirring mental conversation about honey with the resident venomous tentacula which seemed determined to hug Harry. Professor Sprout had to slap the main stem twice.

"The cry of the mandrakes is powerful enough to kill you, but since these are young, they only knock you out for several hours. So, now everyone grab a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection."

Harry was quite sure that the cry would knock even him out and so lunged for a black earmuff pair he had been eyeing.

"Flaps down, nice and tight. Watch me. You have to grab the stem firmly and pull it shot out of the plant!"

Sprout gave once immense tug and the tiny root creature came out squealing. Harry blinked, he could see that the Mandrake wasn't in pain and only hated being pulled out of the safe mud.

Neville's eyes rolled into his head and he collapsed.

"There's one every time." Sprout muttered.

Harry and Ron were holding Neville up as they left the class.

"I've never heard of screaming plants before. Screaming banshees? Yeah, but plants?" Ron said conversely.

Harry kept his mouth shut. If Ron only knew what other kind of plants were out there…

"Potions, next. I'm not sure if Neville's up to it…" Hermione said worriedly. Harry took one look at the boy they were lugging and said, "We'll drop him off in the Hospital Wing and get a note."

"As if that would work with Snape." Ron mumbled. Harry sighed.

No it wouldn't.

And it didn't.

Snape started the class with a quiz like Lockhart had. Except, Harry had returned Lockhart's quiz blank. At least Snape gave questions which were sensible.

_Q 7: Give the three main ingredients used to brew a Forgetfulness Potion._

And easy.

"Potter!"

Harry wondered what he had done now. Probably breathing.

"You gave the fourth question an extra reason. Didn't I say, on our first class that there is no wand waving?"

"Yes, but we have to wave our wand before the brewing and it's also the last ste –"

He lost five points for his explanation.

"No respect for you elders." He said angrily. "I'm not surprised, with last year's actions… "

When they left the dungeons, Harry said, "You know, it just isn't normal until I get a detention every day, right?"

"Snape gave you detention?!" Hermione asked alarmed.

"No, but I'm supposed to spend two hours with Lockhart every weekend, to improve my signature."

Ron stared at him with an open mouth, "He actually believed that cooked up story?"

"Well, he must really be concerned. Besides, it's not like you have detention today." Hermione reasoned. Harry gave her a look and said, "But the day isn't over yet."

* * *

In the end, Snape did give him detention for reading the book on Gobbledegook on Hogwarts grounds.

"I can almost say full sentences." Harry grumbled. He really wanted the book back. Hermione shook her head slowly, almost amused.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that, I sometimes underestimate you. You'll get it back. Trust me."

She had a small smile on her face and Harry and Ron exchanged glances.

When Harry did enter the dungeons, he was surprised to see DJ already sitting. Snape gave him a disinterested look from his chair and said, "Sit."

Harry sat next to DJ who said, "Hey."

"This is not a social skills class. Start cleaning all the shelves from section A to E. Now!"

Harry almost enjoyed it. He was spending time with his favourite cousin who didn't seem to mind the task. DJ, at times, shot him smiles. Harry kept shifting his glances towards Snape who was busy in his own work. They quietly took out all the old books and parchments and rearranged them neatly after dusting out the spaces. After about two and a half hours, the two Potters left the dungeons with DJ repeating Ron's description about Snape.

"He cannot hold my own book from me." Harry said slowly. DJ shrugged and nudged his elbow. "Tell on him. I mean, McGonagall'd side with you, right?"

"Yeah…"

* * *

When Harry was finally in his bed, faint darkness surrounding him and the promise of getting his book back by tomorrow, he opened Lily Potter's red music book. He made it a point to read her song lyrics every night. He had an inexplicable feeling when he did, the soft meaning washing over him almost as if he could hear his mother singing to him by his bedside.

It was all too reassuring. Harry hoped that he might get a decent night's sleep if he read her songs.

In retrospect, he had no clue that sleep would be accompanied by nerve racking dreams.

...

_Harry blinked and yawned. Stretching his arms above his head for a second, he opened his eyes properly. The sunlight was streaming in the red curtains and he almost turned around to snooze again. But then he realized that he couldn't hear any of the snores of his dorm mates._

_That was odd. He pushed himself up and looked around. Without his glasses, the room was blurred. He rubbed his eyes and ran his hands on his bedside table. When he found his glasses, he slipped them on and stumbled back into his pillow._

_The room! He wasn't in the Gryffindor Tower. The room was spacious and grand. He looked around. He was in a comfortable bed with red and black comforter and pillows. The bedside table seemed bigger than what he had in his dorm. There was a large shelf with books and also a guitar in the middle. The walls were filled with posters of a music band and a Quidditch team. His school trunk was open and his robes strewn around carelessly. His Nimbus 2000 was propped on a stand against the wall. The windows on the side were large and was only covered partially by red curtains._

_In short, it looked like a Gryffindor boy's room in his home._

_Harry slowly got out of bed. He looked down and saw that he was in blue pajamas. His arm sleeves were short and he stared at his hands. They were unblemished and unscarred. They had a healthy colour. Harry touched his cheek. It didn't seem as hollow as it should have been. He turned and saw a mirror next to the shelves._

_He ran and took a look at his reflection. He swallowed a gasp._

_He looked… fresh. Young. Harry's gaze went up to his forehead and he shifted his hair out of the way._

_No scar._

_Harry took a few steps back. This was all wrong. Harry searched his left arm. _

_No bracelet._

_He gripped his hair. What was going on?!_

"_Calm down." He said, breathing hard._

_Harry turned to see a door. He went through it and saw a hallway and a banister. He was probably on the first floor or so. He looked over the banister. Not seeing anyone, he slowly walked down the stairs, trying to take in everything he could see._

_The floor was dark mahogany wood. The walls were white with a hint of a gold sheen on them. There were photos in frames over some of the walls. Harry stepped closer towards them._

_Baby photos of a small black haired boy and a red haired girl. They played around with a stuffed bear, pulling and pushing each other, laughing whenever they fell. Some other photos had the children running around in fields, riding a muggle bicycle, riding brooms, having picnic with their parents who looked very much like James and Lily Potter._

_Harry's mouth went dry and he kept walking._

_He passed the hall room and walked into the kitchen. He stopped short._

_He didn't know why, but he couldn't hear anything before. But now he could hear and see a man flipping pancakes, a woman and a younger girl (probably Harry's age) laughing at whatever the man said._

"_Harry! Why are you standing there? Come over, sit down." The woman called. Her green eyes went straight through him pinning his feet to the floor. He couldn't move. Her red hair was tied into a neat braid. She gave him a smile with her dimples and waved her hand over to him. _

"_Son, you okay?" The man asked. His voice had concern in it. Harry slowly looked over at him. His dark hair was as messy as Harry's. His face was far too familiar. His eyes were agonizing hazel and Harry's breathing went harder._

"_Merlin, Harry, you look like you've seen a ghost." The red-headed girl said. She looked confused and alarmed. She too had those hazel eyes. Her face looked much too alike as to her mother – no, their mother._

_Harry was looking at his dead family._

_He staggered backwards and ran back up the stairs. He went into his room and closed the door. _

"_Breathe, just breathe." Harry whispered and shut his eyes._

_..._

He gasped and opened his eyes. Harry looked around. Okay, he was back in his bed in his dorm in Hogwarts.

No sunlight came in through the windows. Harry got up and pushed the comforter away from him. He pulled back the long sleeves of his PJs and looked at his white hands. He could feel the bracelet above his left elbow. Harry immediately raised his hand to his forehead.

Yeah, his little scar was back.

Harry's shoulders slumped. He leaned back and his mother's red music book fell from his chest onto the bed.

Harry frowned at it. Had he fallen asleep, reading it? No, he didn't have his glasses. He had removed the glasses, shut the book and went to sleep, successfully. He couldn't even remember the last time he had a decent night's sleep.

Well, actually he could remember, but that was years ago. Almost seven.

He looked at the time and groaned. 4:37 a.m. This was a wonderful way to start the day.

* * *

**Did the chapter come in a bit late? Sorry about that. I'll try to update with the fortnight. **

**Q: What colour are Sally Jackson's eyes in the PJO books?**

**Listening to – 'How far we've come' by Matchbox 20**

**Stay tuned for the next chap! **

**Cabba.**


	7. Reality?

_**Thanks for the reviews. **_

_**Tot – Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind.**_

_**Guest – The 'thing' between DJ and Hermione is not what you think. But it also could be… You'll see.**_

_**Werd – The title will come into the plot soon enough. As for the picture, it will all fall into place.**_

_**xXTheDragonRiderXx - It's okay. Glad you came back.**_

_**Darkpebble13 - Thanks. I'm keeping a close eye on my characters but thanks for the criticism. I;m glad you noticed.**_

_**All my love to those who read my stories. You care!**_

_**Actually, Frank finds Percy and Annabeth first, sleeping on the glass doors. (That was so cute!)**_

_**In truth, Sally Jackson's eyes look multi-coloured to Percy. That was all the description given. So I think her eyes are a pale colour which can reflect different hues.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. I own the originality of the twist in the plot. That's all.**_

_**Words – 1835**_

* * *

Being back at Hogwarts was wonderful. Harry missed the green grounds, the calm atmosphere, the clean air, the quietness of nature all around. It was a sweet Friday evening and Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting under the shade of the tree by the Black Lake.

"I could just fall asleep." Hermione said leaning against the tree. Ron was skipping stones across the water and grinned, "Yeah, Hogwarts like a vacation site. Except, we have to study."

Harry rolled his eyes and flipped through his Gobbledegook book, mumbling some phrases. But his attention was diverted when he heard a sound in the grass by his side. Turning around he saw three baby squirrels watching him and chirping.

Setting down his book, he removed his cap and held it close towards the squirrels. They jumped in and Harry flipped the cap loosely on his head.

He could feel them running through his hair. For some reason, squirrels really loved his hair.

Harry looked at his two best friends (yes, best friends!) and asked, "Hey, you guys ever had strange dreams?"

Hermione turned around surprised in the change of topic, but Ron said, "Yeah, I once dreamt of melting Snape in my cauldron."

"Well, that's a little weird, but I'm just asking, something really strange that you couldn't understand."

"Dreams are like that." Hermione said. "Once I had a dream that I played Quidditch."

Ron looked gob smacked at that. "Seriously?!"

"Yes, but the goblins won." She continued and chuckled when Ron looked even more shocked.

"The goblins were playing Quidditch?"

"No, they were betting."

"On what?"

"I don't really remember. But whatever it was, they won."

"They have good instincts." Harry said nodding. "But, something even more peculiar than that."

"What's stranger than that?" Ron mumbled.

Harry sighed. He didn't want to tell them about the dream he had about his family. They'd no doubt be too shocked to understand.

Ron would say that it was only a dream and to forget about it if he didn't want to think of it.

Hermione would be a bit more alarmed. Dreams may not have a limit, but this did cross a line Harry was not prepared for. She'd probably suggest dreamless sleep potions.

The worst part was that Harry wanted to dream that again. He wanted to go back into that kitchen, sit down and eat the pancakes his dad made. He wanted to know what his Mum and sister were laughing about.

It wasn't right. He shouldn't do it, right? Harry pressed his lips together. He wondered whether it was because he read his mother music book. Was that a type of trigger?

"Harry, you have squirrels in your hair." Ron said slowly.

* * *

"I hate him!" DJ announced when he and Colin came through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Harry looked up from his chess game with Ron. Bolt who had been entertained by Fred and George playing with balls of sparks simply ignored him.

"Snape?" Ron asked moving his pawn by two steps.

"No, Lockhart! He's mad." DJ said sitting on the couch next to Harry. Colin looked scared at first before sitting next to DJ.

"He took made a fool about me during MAGiC. In front of everyone!"

Harry frowned "What did he say?"

"He made fun of me for not knowing my own Core." DJ whispered.

Hermione's jaw dropped, "He wouldn't do that!"

"He did! We were just leaving when he comes around and says, 'Not sure why you're wasting time here, Daniel, you have no idea of your magic in the first place'!"

Harry stared at him. Making fun of a wizard's magic was not only uncalled for. It was also rude and disrespectful towards the wizard.

"You can't let him say that –"

"I got back at him. Don't worry. But still. He started it." DJ said, folding his arms.

"When you say 'got back at him', what did you do?"

"Oh, you'll see tomorrow." DJ said with a smirk. Colin smiled.

"One worthy of telling us?" One of the Weasely twins asked coming over and dropping a spark ball on Harry's lap. Harry swatted it away.

"Oh no. You'll find out when everyone else will." DJ said with an uncharacteristic smirk and headed back upstairs.

Harry looked at his retreating back and turned around to the chess game. He was very aware of a blushing Colin sitting next to him and staring.

* * *

Next morning, they saw exactly what DJ had done. During breakfast, when Lockhart had strolled in, the Hall grew quiet looking at his head which was covered in black greasy hair just like Snape's.

Lockhart apparently had no idea. He flashed them all a white smile and sat in his seat to start on his food. None of the teachers made a move to tell him, strangely.

"I would say that he looks even more photogenic, but since he doesn't… " Harry trailed off as people started to shake with laughter.

Most girls looked scandalized. Hermione's turned towards DJ and hissed, "Did you do that?!"

DJ looked taken aback at that. "Me? Hermione, if he can't read labels when he picks out his shampoo, it isn't my fault."

Half way through breakfast, Snape finally broke and remarked on Lockhart's hair. Harry didn't it was possible to look even more horrified than his adoring fans, but then he did.

Lockhart simply got up and hurried out the teachers' entrance. DJ's shoulders slumped.

"I thought he'd scream like a girl." He said sadly.

* * *

"Simple transfiguration can be altered into other types. These types, though different at first, will have connections to the original. For example, last year's conversion of a matchstick into a needle can be altered to make it into a knitting needle or made of something else like glass, reflecting surfaces –"

"Simple, she says." Ron muttered as they took down notes for the transfiguration class. McGonagall seemed to go full speed from the first class. It was as though they never had the summer holidays.

"…similar wand movements, similar effects, general variations…"

Harry wrote leisurely unlike Hermione who seemed to copy each and every word McGonagall said. Harry looked around to see all the quills scratching into their respective parchments. He stopped writing for a second and stared at his sheet.

The way he had written the letter 'g' was exactly how his mother, Lily, had written in her music book. Harry frowned. How did he not notice it before?

A small circle with a long loop below. It suddenly seemed significant for him.

"Potter?" McGonagall called. Harry's head snapped up. His fingers fidgeted with his quill as he apologized and continued writing.

"You seemed distracted, Harry. Something wrong?" Hermione asked as they left class. Ron was fiddling with his wand. The old wand seemed to emit sparks at odd times.

"Nothing, just thinking…" Harry absentmindedly closed his fist and opened it. Two red berries were in his palm and he plopped them into his mouth, before Hermione could see them.

"Hungry, huh?" Ron asked. Harry chewed slowly and shrugged.

"What's next?"

"Charms. And then lun –" Hermione's voice was drowned in a loud raspberry that was blown near her face. She shrieked and jumped back. Peeves suddenly turned visible, roared in laughter and zoomed away.

"Argh! What's his problem?! Why does Dumbledore even let him stay in the castle?" She said in a huff trying to ignore the sniggers in the hallway.

'He probably lights up the castle during the Summer holidays.' Bolt mumbled. Harry gave her a curious look as she laid in his robe pocket. She seemed a bit too tired. May be she had run too much in the morning…

Ron bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to laugh as he said, "Just be happy he didn't drop anything on your head."

* * *

On Saturday evening, Harry walked by his lonesome towards the dreaded chamber of doom. He took a deep breath and held it. Raising his fist, he carefully knocked on the door. There was a moment of silence before a voice came from inside.

"Come in if you're Harry Potter!"

Harry opened the door and stepped in. He took one look at Lockhart who was standing in front of a life size portrait of himself drawing a portrait and let out his breath.

"Evening, Harry! Right this way!" Lockhart elaborately flourished his hands towards his desk where there where at least a hundred letters sitting on the table. There was a pot of dark pink ink, a peacock feather, a feather holder and some blank parchments.

"Evening Professor." Harry muttered and sat in the seat given. He looked around the room. It was much different than what Quirrell's room had looked like. The walls were brighter and covered with photos and paintings of Lockhart himself in various assortments of dress robes.

Tearing his eyes away, he looked up to see Lockhart sit opposite him and hand over the parchments to start on the practice of his signature.

"The trick is to let your hand flow. The quill should feel natural to you. Your name is yours and yours to write as you please. Did you know that, centuries ago, people never cared about the spelling? They signed their names however they wanted. Rather unbelievable, don't you think? Yes, but now, Harry, your signature is your mark. Everyone wants to make their mark on the world. Mark my words, Harry. My boy, if you try, you will be somebody in this growing world!"

Harry's mouth was slightly open as he stared at the babbling Professor. Lockhart was signing some photographs of himself riding a broom through snowy mountains.

Bolt gave a small yawn and scratched behind her ear. She lifted her head and slowly climbed out of Harry's pocket.

'I'm roaming.'

'Fine.'

Unaware to Lockhart, she started walking around the office looking up and commenting on the photos which seemed to be the most prominent thing. Harry sighed. He looked out the window where the skies were dark and wondered idly what Percy and Mum were doing at the moment. May be planning Smelly Gabe's sudden death by overdose of beer, or something…

Harry's eyes slid towards the styled glass of golden liquid from which Lockhart was drinking from.

Everything dissolved.

"_Aged." A feminine voice said, smiling. Harry nodded and took a sip from the glass containing the dark red liquid. Quite sweet. He drank deeply and set down the glass._

"_I have been meaning to say…" The woman began, walking slowly towards the window. The night sky was black. Harry stared at her hair and gave a small cough. His throat felt dry._

_The woman turned around and gave another smile. "Drink some more, my King."_

"What?" Harry asked blinking.

Lockhart looked up. "Yes, Harry?"

Harry looked around. The woman wasn't there. He was sitting on the chair with the quill in his hand. His throat did feel dry.

What had just happened?

* * *

_**It's all beginning. This chapter's short because I'm swamped. The next one's coming within the week. Stay tuned!**_

_**Cabba.**_

…


	8. Reality!

**You'll understand the dreams soon enough. DJ's Core will still be a mystery for some time. Harry/Percy reunion will not be in this story, but you will see… read Percy (not a dream) after some chapters. Harry is NOT a vampire. (That one made me laugh :)****) You guys will know about DJ in time, until then, this chapter is for you!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. Rowling does.**

**Words – 3392**

* * *

Harry stared at the red curtains of his bedpost. Despite it being past midnight, he was quite awake.

He didn't know what to make of his sudden vision of the woman and himself. He got up from the bed without jostling the covers or Bolt. Looking around in the faint darkness, he put on his shoes and slipped out the room.

Harry went down to the Common Room and sat on the sofa closest to the small dying fire. He noticed that the sofa arm had a small tear like a bite. Fred's fanged Frisbee must have gotten lose. He rubbed his face.

His mind kept going over what he had seen. The woman was familiar but at the same time, a complete stranger. She had straight dark brown hair which reached till her mid-back. Her skin was slightly tan, the healthy colour looking grand in her silver and white majestic robes fit for a queen. Harry hadn't seen her face. But he was sure that she had outer beauty, too.

She had given him… what? Wine? From what he remembered, he was most certainly not twelve in the vision. He had felt older, taller.

She had called him, 'My King.'

Harry groaned and buried his face in his arms. None of it made any sense!

There was a gasp and a scurry of footsteps from behind him. Harry whipped his head around to see a flash of red disappear up the girl's staircase.

He frowned. "Looks like I'm not the only one finding trouble not falling asleep".

* * *

Harry stretched his arms above his head as he walked away from the Quidditch pitch. Bolt looked bigger now, reaching above his knees. She walked a little tiredly.

"You need to get into shape, Bolt." Harry said, feeling the soft light of the rising Sun fall on his face.

She gave a yawn before thinking, 'It's not that, Harry. Your insomnia's affecting me.'

Harry gave her a surprised look. He hadn't realized that their connection could have any adverse side effects.

"I …didn't realize that. Is it too bad?"

'Of course, it is.' She grumbled. 'It's bad enough you're keeping secrets from me, but to not let me in these days is a bit unhelpful to my health.'

Harry ran his hand through his hair. He hadn't given it any thought.

"Sorry about that, Bolt. Come on." He stopped walking for her to get in, but she shook her head.

'Not now. You stink. Get a bath.'

* * *

Harry had barely finished drying his hair, when Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain barged in the room in his red Quidditch Robes.

"Harry! Good! You're up! Get dressed. The Quidditch pitch in ten minutes." He stomped out before Harry could get a word in.

Bolt groaned. She fell on his bed and started snoozing. Harry stared at her before tucking the blankets around her.

Oliver Wood was one of the most obsessed Quidditch followers in school. Harry had observed him and concluded that it was best to just go along with him, rather than try to change him.

Ron groaned when there was a 'thump' of Harry's trunk being closed harshly. Harry grimaced and whispered, "Sorry, Ron. Good morning."

"Where'ya going?"

"Quidditch pitch." Harry said adjusting his red robes and glasses. Ron blinked and looked more awake.

"Now?"

* * *

Harry was probably the only one who was able to stay awake during Oliver's lectures on theory tactics of four different kinds. It took more than an hour and by that time, the rest of the team was not in any mood to spend the day outdoors.

"Any questions?" Oliver asked as he finished explaining the chasers' initial positions.

George was the only one with a doubt. He asked why hadn't Oliver done this when they were awake.

The Captain did not look happy.

And wasn't happy for the rest of the day either because, as the team left the tent to start practice on the grounds, a group of students clad in green Quidditch robes sauntered onto the field.

* * *

Harry dug into his breakfast with less enthusiasm than usual. Which meant that he just pushed his food around.

DJ came over and sat next to him. He was followed by Colin who stood there awkwardly for a few moments before sitting down too.

"Is it true that the entire Slytherin team have Nimbus 2001s?"

"Yes." Harry said dully.

"Is it true that Draco Malfoy's the new seeker?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that Flint and Oliver started dueling?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that both the captains have detention?"

"Yes."

"But the first Quidditch match is between Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

"Not anymore."

"Why did they duel?"

"The conversation wasn't very civilized. Ron was about to hex Flint, but then Oliver did it first." Hermione said in a low voice. She hadn't spoken since the confrontation. Flint had rudely called her a 'Mudblood' which had been one of the highest insults one could give to a muggleborn.

DJ nodded and took a bite out of his toast. He leaned forward and asked, "Is it true that Flint's nose grew as large as a melon?"

* * *

It was when he left the Great hall that Harry ran into his least favourite professor.

Lockhart was standing there in all his golden robe glory along with a tall witch in a green dress. The witch had blond hair like Lockhart, spectacles with gems stones embedded and a red smile.

The two turned around when Harry had just exited. They smiled identically and Harry wondered if the woman was Lockhart's horror of a sister.

"Harry! My boy! Come here!" He grabbed Harry by the cuff of his Quidditch robes and pulled him aside towards the wall. Harry desperately wished Ron and Hermione had been with him.

"This is a very good friend of mine. She works for the Daily Prophet and is one of my best fans!"

Harry took one look at the woman who had a fawning look on Lockhart and didn't doubt his words.

"This, as you know, Ma'am, is Harry Potter!"

She gave him a wide smile and said, "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter. I am Rita Skeeter. It is an absolute honour to talk to you."

Harry stared at her and said, "Yeah. Thanks."

She gave him a critical stare and said, "Would you mind if I take a short interview of you? The world is dying to know of the famous personality that is the Boy-Who-Lived."

Harry gave her a look of disbelief. First autographs, now this?

"Yes." He said firmly.

"Wonderful! Now, shall we have the interview on the grounds or –"

"I meant, yes, I would mind. My class will be starting in half an hour and I need to go get ready." Harry said, trying to pull away from Lockhart's grip.

"But, Harry! It would be fascinating to have a heart to heart talk on the grounds of Hogwarts! You will be the youngest person I have ever deigned to be considered to be interviewed by me! This is a once in a life time opportunity!"

She opened her bag which was hung over her left shoulder. Out flew a notepad and an acid green quill. Harry frowned and looked back at her.

"I really don't think –"

"Excellent. Shall we go to the grounds?"

Harry was still staring at the quill and notepad when they steered him towards the vast plain green land.

"Now, Harry. I notice that you wear the Gryffindor Quidditch robes."

"I'm in Gryffindor." Harry mumbled.

"Yes, but rumour has it that you made the team in your first year. As far as I remember, first years aren't allowed. How did you get in?" She gave him a leering gaze and Harry automatically leaned back. Lockhart patted him on the shoulder and said, "No need to be shy, Harry."

"Well, there was no one else for the spot and the Staff thought I was good enou –"

"But the decision was made by Albus Dumbledore, who happens to be a relation to you. Isn't that true?" She asked innocently. Harry stared at the quill which had written, '_Partiality to the Scarred Boy?_'

"Ignore the quill, Harry." She said in a tutting voice.

"Yeah, but –"

"I've also heard that you play the guitar. How are you at that?"

Lockhart's eyes widened, "You play the guitar? Good for you, Harry! The girls will start swarming by next year!"

"What?!" Harry choked.

"Your skin looks very pale, why is that?" Rita asked suddenly. Harry blinked.

"I –"

"Do you take care not to get too dark? Are you racial?"

"What?! No!"

"It is very white…"

"It's been like that for years!" Harry said, angrily, moving roughly away from Lockhart's grip and walking back towards the castle.

"Harry, I haven't finished yet! Why did you reject the award for _The Waffling Wizard/Witch Genius Competition_?"

Harry clenched his jaw as he ignored the both of them. They had no right to question anyone like that. Who did she think she was?

"Angry, quite angry." A voice whispered from his right. Harry spun around to see a small blond girl with large blue eyes which seemed to stare right through him. She seemed to be completely at ease as she leaned on the wall. Her tie was blue and bronze. He felt cautious at once. Ravenclaws didn't need to use the this pathway.

"Um…"

"You're Harry Potter. You're angry and sad." She said in a dream-like voice.

Harry shook his head, "No, I –"

"You're calming down. You're welcome." She said.

Harry frowned a bit. His mood was completely out with what had happened but this girl seemed to point that out bluntly as though it didn't matter. He felt confused.

"Who –"

"Luna Lovegood. I have Herbology. Goodbye, Harry Potter." She turned around and started skipping down the empty hallway.

Harry stared at her until she was out of sight. Then he slowly turned around to walk back to his dorm, the mishap of an _interview_ almost forgotten.

* * *

"Luminosity… Luminescence… Light." Professor Flitwick demonstrated the charm of how to conjure light from a wand. Something Harry had really needed since the previous year.

He took a peek at Hermione whose attention was solely on Flitwick and then turned towards Ron.

"I'm skipping next class." He whispered. Ron looked alarmed at that and whispered back, "Hermione's gonna get mad at me!"

"I am not sitting in Lockhart's class! Not today." Harry furiously whispered. Ron looked resigned at that but then asked, "Where will you be?"

"Anywhere but there."

Ron frowned but then said, "Do you want me to cover up for you?"

Harry shook his head.

* * *

True to his word, as the class filed out, Harry headed straight away from the designated corridor. Hermione stopped herself and turned in surprise.

"Harry? Where are you –"

"Bathroom." He said shortly and left.

He did go in there. Giving himself a look in the mirror, his reflection commented, "Snazzy."

Giving it a glare, Harry just ran his hand through his hair. For a moment, he thought about the Mirror of Erised. Trying not to remember his own reflection from that memory, he fixed his focus on Rose's. Her expression when she saw him looking at her. The hunger in his own chest.

"Why do you torture yourself?" His reflection asked snapping him out of his two second recall.

"Shut up."

Harry turned to leave when Bolt leapt out and landed on the edge of the sink as a small puppy. She gave a yawn and said, 'Thanks for the nightmare, Harry.'

Harry sighed, "I'm sorry –"

"You can keep thinking about the past. It isn't good for anyone." She said. Harry gave her a glare and retorted, "What I think, is none of your business."

'It is.'

"No. Familiars don't share minds. There's a connection. That's all." Harry left the bathroom, but heard her following him.

'You're a little grouch, you know that?'

"Go and fetch a stick!"

Bolt gave a growl as she bared her teeth at him. He ignored her with ease and then heard her say, 'I'm visiting a tiger lily flower. Something you haven't thought of in a while.'

Harry froze and turned around to see her disappear. He sighed.

"Harry?" A voice called and he turned his head to see DJ standing alone next to the stairs leading to the level below.

"DJ? Why aren't you in class?"

"I could ask you the same question." DJ shot back with a smirk.

"I asked you first."

DJ just held out his bag which he dropped by his feet. "Had to give a file to Flitwick. McGonagall doesn't seem to trust me, by the way. Why do you think that is?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, go on. Back to class."

"You haven't told me –"

DJ's voice died away as he turned towards a whistling sound from his side. A bright green and orange thing was flying towards him at an incredible speed. Suddenly, it bared teeth at him a snapped so fast that DJ gave a yell and stumbled backwards. His feet caught his bag and he fell down the marble staircase.

He crashed against each hard step and went straight through the large stained glass window which broke into a thousand pieces.

The only reason why he hadn't fallen three stories straight to the ground was that, Harry was gripping his hand, while holding onto a glass shard still fixed on the edge.

The shard that was cutting into his hand.

Harry gasped for breath as he stared at his cousin who wasn't moving. But his grip on his hand was starting to become sweaty.

"No. Daniel, can you hear me?" Harry groaned. He closed his eyes and tried to call Bolt. For a frightening moment, he couldn't hear her.

'Harry?' She said. Harry gritted his teeth as pain flared through his palm. The triangular piece of glass was dangerously bending. Anymore and he and Daniel would plummet through at least forty feet.

Suddenly, Bolt was there. Leaning out the window staring at the two boys with wide eyes.

'Oh Merlin! I leave you for five minutes and you're already in danger!'

"Could you pull us out?" Harry asked through his teeth. Bolt looked wary.

'I don't think so. I just flashed twice. I… I can go get help!'

"Then go!"

She scrambled away and Harry swore as Daniel slipped another inch. The older boy glanced down and saw untamed grass covering the entire area. He pressed his lips together. If they fall, they wouldn't die. Harry concentrated on the grass. Slowly, he saw them wriggling and growing. Taller and thicker.

They'd land on the grass and sustain some injuries. Harry looked up to see trails of blood flowing down his arm and groaned.

Daniel groaned too. Harry looked at him in shock.

"Danny, you okay? Stupid question, how are you awake?!"

Daniel blinked and looked up slowly. "Ouch. What's happening?"

Harry stared at him. Daniel didn't look as though he fell down a flight of stairs and through a window. In fact, his skin seemed to be clear. No cuts or bruises.

"You're alright." Harry whispered in disbelief. Daniel shook his head and said, "My skull hurts. Your hand is bleeding."

Harry stared at him. Okay, Daniel's Core must have been more active than he'd thought.

Daniel slipped a few inches and Harry reacted without thinking. His fingers clasped at his wrist and with shocking strength, Harry pulled him up. Harry then pulled the both of them with the single hand he used to hold onto the glass. With his elbow, he pushed them onto the window ledge.

Daniel grabbed the side and pulled himself up. Harry used his knee and then, the both of them tumbled on to the safe level.

"Ouch." Daniel muttered and sat up slowly. Harry took a look at his own palm and sighed at the deep cut.

"What happened? Why were we hanging from a ledge?" Daniel asked. Harry frowned at him and leaned forwards to brush his hair out of his face.

"You don't look hurt. I can't see any cuts. Does anything feel broken?" Harry asked seriously.

"Broken? Like bones? Nothing hurts except for my skull."

"Head?"

"No, skull."

Harry frowned at him and then looked at his skin. There was something odd about it.

"I feel strange, though." Daniel said. He stared at his hands and balked.

"It's shiny!"

"What?" Harry asked looking at his hands. There really was something different in the skin. Not shiny. It was as though the texture had changed. On a hunch, Harry reached forwards and tapped Daniel's hand.

The sound was as if he had hit something metal.

Daniel jerked back and stared at Harry's hands. It had the same lustre to it.

"It's like metal. Solid." Harry murmured. Then it hit him.

"You know your Dad's Core, don't you?"

Daniel frowned. He blinked and his jaw fell open.

"You don't think –"

"I've heard of people inheriting both their parents' magic. But only one is dominant. The other is of lesser magnitude. It's not uncommon, but the fact that I now have both my parents' magic and that you show signs of exhibiting another type of magic, it's obvious that we have our fathers' Core as a secondary base."

"English, please."

Harry glared at him and said, "Two Cores, Daniel! Except, what we just discovered now, is only a fraction of what our fathers had."

Daniel gave him a look and reached out his hand towards the window. He gripped it and squeezed. There was a crumbling noise and that piece of the wall broke out completely.

"Metal hands!"

"No." Harry corrected. "Super strength."

* * *

"Of course, it had to be you!" Madam Pomfrey muttered as she shoved a glass full of sweet smelling potion into Harry's hand.

"Would it help if I said that I had not meant for it to happen?" Harry tried. The matron ignored him and Daniel snickered until she gave him the same potion.

Though the only injury was the cut in Harry's right palm, the two cousins were still confined to the Hospital Wing until further notice.

"So, something came flying at you, you tripped over your bag - which you had foolishly kept right next to the stairs - and fell down a flight of solid marble stairs and through the framed window with coloured glass depicting the Battle of 1324 Gold Rise and the both of you were able to pull yourself out on your own." Snape summarized, his nostrils flaring as though he didn't believe a word of it.

"Pretty much." Daniel said lightly.

"First of all, what were the both of you doing in that corridor?"

"Well, I was heading back from the bathrooms." Harry shrugged.

"And I was doing Professor McGonagall a favour!" Daniel said looking at said professor to back him up. McGonagall nodded slowly.

"By falling down the stairs?" Snape asked. She shot him a glare.

"What I'd like to know, is what exactly came at you, Daniel?" Dumbledore asked carefully looking at the two boys.

"I'm not sure. It was spinning and had fangs. It tried to bite me, too."

"You were standing at the other side of the corridor, weren't you?" Snape suddenly asked Harry who nodded.

"Then how were you able to catch him before he fell?"

"I ran." Harry said simply.

"That fast?"

"Yes. When adrenaline takes over, I run quite fast."

Snape narrowed his eyes at him as McGonagall said, "Well thank goodness for that. Now all that's left is to know of you new found magic."

Daniel looked absolutely delighted at that, "We got our dads' Core. Just a part of it, but it's brilliant! Super strength! I bet we can punch through walls, take down vampires, crack diamonds –"

"I don't think we can do the last part, Danny." Harry whispered quickly noticing the horrified looks on McGonagall and Snape's faces.

"But we can take down vampires, right?"

"If we do meet a vampire hell bent on exterminating us, let's just hope we have aspen." Harry muttered.

"What's aspen?"

"Back to the topic! I think we ought to have Fanged Frisbees banned." Dumbledore said swiftly, though his eyes were twinkling.

* * *

**Q: When was the first recorded moment in the PJO/HoO books when Annabeth told Percy, "I love you!"? **

**Stay tuned for the next!**

**Cabba.**


	9. Secrets and more

**I'm going away this week for more than a fortnight and I can't take my laptop with me. Updates will be sketchy depending on when I can borrow the computer at my Grandparents' place. (Warning in advance.) **

**The first official trailer of Sea of Monsters has been released. I think it's rather good and a bit more in character than the Lightning Thief. I saw the video on 'Shane Carl Montefalcon' youtube account.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the original works of Harry Potter. JKR does.**

**Song – 'Look Around' by David Archuleta**

**Words – 3930**

…

"Super strength. What can beat that?" Daniel announced as he walked next to Harry back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Don't say that to anyone. They'd be after your blood." Harry said quickly looking around to see if anyone was watching them.

"Come on, Harry. Don't tell me you're not excited to have this! You can feel the strength, right? I can walk straight through this wall right here and not get hurt!" He said pointing to the side.

"You might be a little disoriented. So I'd suggest you to not do that, Danny." Harry said firmly. Daniel just sighed. Suddenly, he perked up and frowned at Harry.

"My name's DJ."

Harry gave him a look, "Yeah, but you see, I'm going to call you 'Danny'."

Daniel looked confused, "Why?"

Harry gave a shrug and said, "The planet can call you whatever you want. But you look like a 'Danny' to me."

"I… do not!"

"Uh huh."

Harry shook his head in slight amusement as he listened to his cousin's spluttering. Danny really was starting to remind him of Percy. Except Percy, in this case, would have shot back a smart-aleck retort that would have made Harry chase him all over the place.

Splash!

Both Potters stopped short as they realized that a bucket of water had turned itself on them. Hearing Peeves' cackle as he zoomed away, Harry sighed.

"They need to teach us the drying charm in first year." Danny muttered.

…

Small timing intervals between stringing was supposed to ingrained in his mind. Which was why, guitar was playing was easy and relieving.

Harry sighed and closed his eyes listening to the soft music produced. He leaned back against the slanted roof of the Gryffindor Tower and adjusted the guitar comfortably in his hand. Taking a peek at the red music book, Harry marked the page where his mother's last unfinished song lyrics were written.

Unfinished as in, she had written just five words – When I look at You…

Harry stared at those words and put down his guitar slowly. Idly, he wondered if he could write a song with these words as title.

Well that depended who was the person he would choose to be the model of the song, right?

It didn't have to be a romance song. Friendship, siblinghood, platonic love…

Harry felt a little frustrated for no reason. He took a look at his watch and cursed. It was already eight. Within four hours, it'd be Halloween. He had to get the potion from Poppy!

In a second, he was on his feet, bending his knees and flipping through the window below him. The guitar and book was in his tight grip which he released only after opening his trunk. Should he take the Invisibility Cloak? No, why would he need it? It wasn't as though he was doing something illegal…

…

Shivers were running down his spine as he knocked on the Infirmary door. It was a foreboding feeling and Harry kept whipping his head around to see if anyone was watching him with ill intentions. He didn't come across anyone (strangely), but the feeling didn't go.

Suddenly, there was a large rumbling. Harry froze as the sound drifted away. It had felt as though a huge door had been opened after years of disuse.

Pressing himself against the nearest wall, Harry perked up his ears, straining them. For a second, he heard whispers. And then he jumped when the loud sound echoed through the corridor again. Harry started walking away from his intended destination and went right. He started picking up the pace and slid across the rest of the corridor towards the end where there was a large 'Out of Order' sign hanging on the entrance.

He braced himself and held his breath wondering if there was anyone there. After a few minutes, when he couldn't hear anything, he slowly slipped in, ignoring the sign.

The room was dirty and obviously not in use. There was a smudged and smoked mirror with many basins along the side. It was an abandoned washroom. Harry wasn't sure why it wasn't in use. Nothing seemed out of place, except for the fact that it was deserted and isolated.

He walked about pushing open the doors to see if anyone or thing was in there. The place was completely empty except for him. Harry just let out a sigh and shook his head. Then he blinked.

This was a girl's bathroom!

He groaned and half-ran out. What the hell had he been thinking? Just walking into a deserted room like that? It could have been dangerous!

'Now he gets it.' Bolt muttered.

He quickly left the corridor and reached the Hospital Wing. The matron gave him a look-over glance and said, "I still haven't understood what your problem is, Potter. But this is very serious. I recommend a full report at St. Mungo's –"

"Poppy! No! This has been happening for years. I'm alright!"

"Years…" She gave him a glare at pushed him onto one of the chairs in her office.

"Years. That's nice. And I suppose none of the muggles paid any attention to you?"

"I didn't tell them." Harry answered simply, eyeing the Pepper-up potion in her glass cabinet.

Madam Pomfrey got up suddenly and walked over to the cupboard. She took a large flask from it and another jar with a pink coloured substance. Then she took the Pepper-up potion and pushed all three into his arms.

"That's for a dreamless sleep and the paste is for healing long-time bruises and skin marks. And Harry –"

Harry's head jerked up when she called him by his first name. She was giving him a rather pitying look that he disliked immediately.

"If you need to talk, I'm here."

What was this? Therapy?

'She's trying to help.' Bolt argued.

'Does it look like I _need_ help?' Harry argued back.

'Yes!'

"I'm fine." Harry said carefully. He stood up, a bit awkwardly, thanked her and left the room.

…

Ron had decided that he didn't need a third helping of dinner. Muffling a yawn with his fist, he dully looked around. Hermione was still staring at the wall behind him as she ate diligently. He turned to see Fred and George teasing DJ and Colin about the ghosts clearly trying to make up for the accident that happened weeks ago.

He looked at the other tables to see Malfoy whispering in undertones to another second year girl. Most students were in their own world, talking robustly and chatting.

"I don't think Harry's coming for dinner." Ron muttered to Hermione. She looked up in surprise and frowned, "He doesn't have detention, right? What's he doing back at the dorm?"

"Search me." Ron said. He took a look at the entrance and decided, "I'm gonna see."

"Wait!" Hermione took another sip of her water and followed Ron out of the Great Hall and towards Gryffindor tower.

As they reached the door to the Second year boys' dorm, they heard Harry's voice saying, "Why does it have to be pink?"

Ron and Hermione stopped and stared at each other. They carefully pressed their ears to the door wondering what he was doing.

"That's fast." Harry's voice mumbled. There was a glass clink sound and some humming.

"Nearly gone. I should've done this last year."

Some cloth rustling and soft sounds of hitting the carpet. Hermione immediately removed herself away from the door and pulled on Ron's hand.

"Wait!" Ron whispered and knocked on the door.

"Harry? You okay?"

They waited for him to reply. "Fine. Come on in."

Slowly peeking in, they saw Harry seated on his bed, holding his school shirt. He was already in his night shirt and pants. He looked at them quizzically.

"Hello. The night's getting colder, isn't it? Or maybe that's just me." Harry threw his shirt into his open trunk and kicked it shut.

"Wh…what were you doing before we came in?" Ron asked slowly looking around to see anything pink. Nearly everything Harry owned were black.

"You mean before or while the both of you were eavesdropping on me?" Harry asked smartly staring at them and folding his arms. Ron and Hermione blushed a bit.

"Uh…"

"You need to work on your whispering. I could hear it through the door. Try not to breathe when you whisper. That lowers the sound."

"We'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip." Ron said and sat down on his own bed.

"So, what's pink?" Hermione asked standing by the bed post.

Harry gave a shrug, "Your faces."

"That's not what I meant. Before."

"Dinner's over, right?" Harry asked, turning to Ron who nodded.

"You missed it. Anyway you already ate before we went to the Hall."

"No." Harry said frowning. Ron looked surprised at that. "But I thought you said you were going back to the Great Hall when we finished our homework for Potions, remember?"

"Yes, but I just had a talk with McGonagall and Danny."

"About what?" Hermione asked stepping closer. Harry leaned back and said, "Well, we've been practicing our Core magic for weeks until it was Ministry approved. Sometimes, secondary sources can be unstable."

"What's the verdict?"

"We're Ministry approved."

"Well, Percy'd be proud." Ron muttered.

"What?" Harry asked suddenly. Ron gave him a confused look before quickly re-iterating, "My brother."

Hermione looked interested, "You know another Percy?"

"Used to be my neighbor." Harry said in a blasé tone.

"Best friend, init?" Ron asked. Harry waved his hands about before saying, "Yeah. So, I guess it's getting late, so…"

"It's only nine, but I guess, I'm leaving." Hermione muttered. She bid them a goodnight and left the dorm.

Ron gave Harry a gauging look. Harry replied in a defending tone, "What?"

"No, nothing, it's just that, tomorrow's Halloween."

"So?"

Ron sighed and said, "Did Madam Pomfrey –"

"Yeah."

So, you're all set –"

"Yeah."

"And now, you'll –"

"Yeah."

…

Next morning, Ron heard a teeth chattering noise. He got up and opened the curtain to see Harry, already breathing out white mists and clad in jumpers, reach for the Pepper-up potion. Within a few seconds, Harry seemed to relax and Ron calmed down.

"It's almost breakfast time…" Harry muttered and Ron shot up.

Through the day, Ron kept a close eye on Harry. Like last year, his friend looked like a vampire and was starting to doubt Harry's claims of not being one.

Yeah, Harry ate human food and had green eyes, not red or gold or black, but still…

"Ron…" Harry said in a warning voice and Ron realized he had been staring at him for a second too long.

"I can't help it, Harry! I… look, this looks serious –"

"I'm absolutely fine. It just looks worse that it is." Harry said firmly sipping up the hot potion after lunch. Ron just shook his head. He saw Hermione keep her lips pressed tightly as though she was about to start ranting at Harry and wanted to avoid it.

"Tell that to Pomfrey." Ron muttered.

"I did!" Harry snapped back and then sighed, "It's much better than last time, too."

"Did you get any sleep?" Hermione asked.

"You changing the subject." Harry said shortly, getting ready for the next class.

Ron kept his mouth shut as they went off to Charms. Before they came anywhere near the room, DJ suddenly ran up to them and gave Harry a rolled scroll.

"Lockhart told me to give you this… You okay?"

Harry ran his hand through his hair, "Yes. I am well and fine. No one has to worry."

Harry read the parchment while DJ shot Ron a look of alarm. Ron just shook his head.

"Unbelievable." Harry muttered, rolling it up. "Lockhart invited me to be his co-chaperone for Valentine Celebrations."

"Valentine? Isn't that in February?" DJ asked.

"Yes. He must have something special for the occasion." Hermione pondered. Harry stuffed the paper into his bag and said, "Thanks, Danny."

"You're not gonna go for it, are you?"

"Of course not. I'll have to have a very tearful and heart-to-heart let down conversation with him now."

The laughter from Ron and DJ was broken with ghostly muttering from the Gryffindor house ghost, Sir Nicholas.

"Half an inch of sinew… isn't break time up, youngsters?" The ghost asked holding a pearly translucent scroll in his hand.

Ron decided that attending a ghost's deathday party was a better alternative to spending hours with Lockhart. Even then, Nick gave them invitation to his party if they did want to come.

"That was nice of him." Hermione observed as he floated away through the armour. DJ blinked at that and said, "Who celebrates deathdays? Shouldn't it be sad?"

"To each his own." Harry muttered and they went on their way.

Ron had to say that Harry did look better than last year. Still, he wasn't so sure when his fingers touched Harry's wrist.

Harry had slipped on some water when they were walking on the second floor towards the stairs to head for dinner. Ron had caught him to steady his balance and felt a little shock at the coldness of his skin.

"Thanks." Harry said breathlessly as he stood and stared at the water.

"The entire corridor's wet." Hermione said, looking along the deserted corridor.

"There's an abandoned bathroom here, right?" Harry said watching the water flow slowly. Ron stared at the water, opening his mind's Core.

"Yeah. Straight from the taps." Ron nodded. Hermione 'hmmed' and said, "That's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

"Uhhh…"

"She's the ghost of a girl who haunts the second floor bathroom. Nobody uses it because of her. I've seen her only once. Not exactly a ray of sunshine…"

She walked towards the abandoned bathroom without another word. Harry and Ron followed her.

"Refresh my mind, but why are we walking towards a haunted bathroom?" Ron asked her.

"It's not like she's a wraith, she's just a ghost." Hermione replied and walked into the room ignoring the large 'Out of Order' sign.

"Just a ghost." Ron mumbled under his breath, but Harry frowned at her words.

"Wait! You mean wraiths exist?!" Harry asked surprised. Hermione turned around and nodded, "They're rare. But, yeah. Like the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade.

Harry seemed to go into his own world after that. Ron looked at the dirt on the mirror and announced, "I think the tour is over. Can we go back to the land of the Living?"

"She's isn't here." Hermione mumbled.

"I'm hungry." Ron said and pulled the both of them out. They would have gone down the stairs if Ron hadn't seen DJ going up on another moving staircase set.

"What's he doing?" Harry asked as the three of them watched DJ disappear into the fourth floor and appear on the fifth floor stairs.

"He's missing the Halloween feast." Ron frowned. He saw Harry turn abruptly and tell, "I'm going with him. See you guys later."

"Is no one hungry?" Ron asked in disbelief. Hermione sighed.

…

Harry ran up the last of the steps and saw DJ go into the Gryffindor Common Room.

"_Muggle riddled_." Harry said to Debby and she swung her portrait.

"Danny, wait!"

DJ stopped and looked at Harry in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Following you. What are you doing here?"

"Not hungry." DJ mumbled and went up to his dorm. Harry stood there for a second before going there too.

DJ was seated on his bed stroking the feathers of his barn owl. Harry stepped in slowly and then said, "You never did tell me what you named him."

"Garth."

"Garth?"

"He looks like a Garth to me." DJ explained. Garth hooted and snapped its beak at Harry.

"I don't think he likes me." Harry commented walking towards them. DJ shrugged. Harry sat next to DJ and looked around the room. It was as messy as you would've expected a preteen boys' room to be.

"What's wrong?" He asked and DJ sighed, frustrated.

"Nothing has to be wrong. I'm just sitting here. What's wrong with sitting in my room?"

"Nothing, I suppose. I thought you would've have wanted to enjoy the feast more than brooding on your own." Harry said easily, leaning against the post.

"May be I don't want to enjoy the feast." DJ retorted.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing! Jeez, what's with people? They celebrate all the wrong days!" DJ half- yelled. Garth let out an irritated squawk at the loud voice and flew to his bird stand.

Harry took just a second to understand. DJ didn't want to enjoy Halloween for the most obvious reason there was.

"My apologies. I should have given it more thought." Harry mumbled. DJ looked at him and said, "You're the only who did. Everyone's been asking me why I was so out of it. Well, I have the right to be. Today just… sucks!"

DJ fell on his back on the bed. Harry frowned. He himself never thought much about it. He purposely kept thinking about other things. It wouldn't do to think about –

"How can you miss someone you don't remember? It sounds silly." DJ whispered staring at the ceiling.

"It's not silly. It's a good thing. You miss someone because even though you may not remember them, they meant something to you. That's something you can never forget, even if you don't remember them."

DJ squinted at Harry, "That makes no sense!"

"You miss them because you loved them and they loved you." Harry simplified.

"Yeah, okay." DJ muttered sounding as though he didn't believe it entirely. He huffed and sat up.

"What did you do last Halloween?"

Harry pressed his lips together and nodded. Oh yeah, this was an excellent question.

"Well, we… as in Ron, Neville, Hermione and me, got locked in the forbidden third corridor." Harry said.

DJ stared at him, "Come again?"

"Ron had somehow gotten Hermione upset. He went to apologize to her. Neville and I followed. Peeves tried to attack us. We ran into the third floor corridor. There was a Cerebrus in it."

"What's a Cerebrus?"

"A large three headed dog. Its name was Fluffy. He belongs to Hagrid."

"Of course. And then?"

"Well the door got jammed when Fluffy jumped on it. There was a trapdoor and we decided that we didn't want to be dog chow, so we went down to fall on a Devil's Snare."

"That killer plant?"

"Yeah. We ran into an adjointing room and came across tiny flying keys."

"Flying keys?"

"Flying keys. There were broom sticks there. So we flew out all the rooms, past Fluffy and blasted the locked door. I don't think we were mentally scarred, though."

"All in a days' work, right?"

"Yes. So, what did you do last Halloween?"

DJ grinned, "I slipped in some old chocolates into Damon's basket. He was sick for hours!"

Harry frowned, "That wasn't very nice of you."

"He pushed me off the monkey bars!"

"How many did you slip in?"

"Just a few."

"A few more couldn't have hurt."

DJ stared at him, not understanding the sudden shift in thought. Then, he stretched.

"As fun as this has been, recounting near death experiences, let's go find something else to do."

"Like what?"

"Something very depressing. Something that would fit with this day." DJ said. Then his eyes widened. "Can we go to Godric's Hollow?"

"What?!" Harry asked bewildered.

"Godric's Hollow is where our parents are, right? Can we go visit them?"

Harry sighed and shook his head, "First of all, I doubt Dumbledore would let us go –"

"But –"

"Second of all, a nightly visit to a cemetery will not be good for you. And third of all, this is not the time to suggest something like this."

"Why not?!" DJ asked shocked.

"No offense, Danny, but people would find going into a cemetery on Halloween night as a joke! So put that thought out of your head –"

"You're just scared –"

"Call me what you want, we are mostly certainly not going there any time in the near future."

DJ glared at Harry and said, "I want to go to Nick's Deathday party!"

"Danny, don't –"

"Oh, is that not allowed? Sorry to inform you, but he gave us an open invitation. I'm going."

He got up abruptly and left the room. Harry groaned and followed.

…

They didn't talk the entire way down. Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets, while DJ kept himself a few steps forward.

Bolt seemed to be on DJ's side, '_No offense, Danny, but people would find going into a cemetery on Halloween night as a joke.' _Are you crazy?! He wants to see them! What right do you have to say yes or no?!'

Harry kept quiet. There were particular reasons why he didn't want DJ to see their parents. At least, not at the age of eleven.

Sir Nick's party was a floor above Snape's dungeons. The lower they went, the colder the air became. Harry pulled his robes over himself and braced for the onslaught of ghost celebrations.

…

"Had a depressing time?" Harry asked as they left the party. DJ's teeth were chattering slightly. He rubbed his palms trying to get some heat in them.

"I dunno why, but it felt a bit silly. With Sir Properly-decapitated crashing the party and all…"

Harry shrugged. It did seem rude. DJ sighed and his stomach rumbled.

"I guess you're hungry."

"No duh, Sherlock. I haven't eaten anything since evening." DJ grumbled. Harry frowned. He supposed he could make a few grapes for him.

"Here." Harry said opening his hand out to the first year. DJ stopped in surprise when he saw some purple grapes sitting there.

"They're a little sweet. Be careful of the seeds." Harry said. DJ ate them slowly and exclaimed, "These are really good!"

"Thanks."

"You can make fruits. Harry, that's brilliant."

"Thanks."

"What's your favourite?"

"I like apples. Especially, because they're the hardest to make."

"Why?" DJ asked curiously as they climbed another set of stairs.

"I like to get them perfect. Perfectly red, or pink or green –"

"There are pink app… oh yuck!"

DJ jumped back and nearly tripped on one of the stairs. Harry caught his arm and pulled him away.

"You nearly fell!" Harry said heatedly, "What?"

"Spiders. Look, they're over the banisters. They were on my hand!"

DJ swatted them furiously while Harry watched the spiders. The tiny eight legged creatures didn't scuttle away randomly. In fact, they seemed to be going in lines towards the windows on the side walls.

"That's strange. I've never seen spiders act like that." Harry frowned.

"Look, there are different kinds! This one's tiny, but that one's all brown – look, there's water on the floor!" DJ said staring at their wet shoes. Harry stared at his reflection who said, 'Get ready.'

"For what?" Harry asked out loud. DJ stared, "What?"

"Danny, I think we need to leave." Harry was about to pull on DJ's hand when the latter stopped and asked, "What's that?"

The boys looked at the reflection of the wall in the torch lights. It didn't seem clean…

DJ's jaw fell open and Harry felt speechless. They looked at the wall opposite them where there was the writing, 'The Chamber of Secrets is open. Enemies of the Heir, beware.'

"It's written in blood." Harry said slowly.

"Harry, look at that." DJ pointed at the torch bracket from which a small motionless figure of a black cat was hung.

…

**Hope you enjoyed this. R&R.**

**Q: What do you think of the Sea of Monsters trailer?**

**Stay tuned for the next update!**

**Cabba.**


	10. Dreams?

**Late... yeah, thanks for the reviews! I do wish a few more did review but I feel greedy asking that. I know a lot of people are reading this story and every time I see a comment, I feel so motivated. The more you review, the sooner I can get the next chapter done!**

**An update for you – I started working on Percy's first story! Finished two chapters of it! So get interested!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the original works of Harry Potter (JKR) and Percy Jackson ATO (RR).**

**Words – 3212**

* * *

It wasn't as though he asked for trouble. It just came when it thought things were too calm or not chaotic enough.

Harry sighed as they entered the Great Hall, the next school day. It was easy enough to ignore people's stares and whispers mainly because his Halloween frostiness had dissipated entirely.

"Innocent until proven guilty." Hermione said in a casual tone as they sat down for breakfast. Harry let out a snort as he watched everyone out of the corners of his eyes. They kept looking at him at times.

"I'd say they're mental, but it's obvious. Are they really that thick if they think a kid could have petrified someone?" Ron asked.

"You guys believe us?" DJ asked surprised. He looked up from his toast and stared at Ron.

"Well, yeah! What did you think?" Ron said confused.

"No, it's just that... well, Ginny wasn't talking to me today. I thought she doubted me."

Ron frowned, "She wouldn't just go and think that, DJ. She's mad but she's not that mad."

Hermione, who had glared at him when Ron had said it, commented, "It's just the gossip. Besides, what I'm most interested is the warning written on the wall. What 'chamber' do you think it means?"

"How many chambers are there in this castle?" Ron asked rolling his eyes.

"What she means is that what kind of chamber must make a big deal if it was opened." Harry explained.

"A haunted chamber? Let's go ask Moaning Myrtle." Ron muttered.

"I'm serious! Mrs. Norris was attacked! Whoever this person is, they're probably going to make it more dangerous."

"Make what –"

There was a gong by the large clock above the four hourglasses in the Great Hall. Hermione gasped.

"Oh dear! First class is Lockhart's! Let's go!"

"Is Lockhart's classroom haunted?"

* * *

Before Harry could get into the class, Lockhart stopped him.

"The rest of you can go in. I just need a moment with Mr. Potter here." He flashed a grin at the students and steered Harry to the corridor.

"This is just a suggestion, Harry, but I think you should use this opportunity as another meeting with Ms. Skeeter."

"What opportunity?" Harry asked staring at the man. Lockhart only patted his shoulder and led him to the class.

"What was that about?" Ron whispered. Harry only shrugged.

The day went relatively normal. But it did feel a bit like déjà vu when people whispered in undertones while Harry was about. Last year, his 'celebrity status' as Snape had called it, had worn out only briefly. Now, it was back with full force like a double-edged sword.

When Harry and DJ had seen Mrs. Norris hanging from the torch bracket, they had felt stunned. She was completely still, her eyes glassy and out of focus. Her face was an expression of terror and it was clear that the perpetrator was ruthless if he/she would go about petrifying cats.

Harry had automatically stepped forward to take a closer look at her. She was unnaturally still. He was almost sure she was dead. But the fact was that he could see a light in her eyes which was not from the torch above. She was alive. Just frozen.

He remembered seeing DJ roll his hands as though gathering string and stuffing it into his pocket before they heard a loud rumble that was the sound of hundreds of footsteps coming in their direction...

Harry thought about what Dobby, the house elf, had said. Something was happening at Hogwarts. Well, something was definitely happening and it wasn't good. He had to talk to him. How do you talk to an elf?

"Hey, Ron?"

Ron looked up from Harry's book, _Quidditch through the Ages_. "Yeah?"

"What do you know about house elves?"

Ron frowned and shrugged, "Well, they work for well off families. We never had an elf. Never mind that you don't have to pay them, but once you do own a house elf, the elf's in your power."

"Like... a slave?" Hermione asked suddenly putting down her parchments. She leaned over the table in the library they currently where, and stared at Ron.

"Slave? Yeah, you can say that. They don't exactly have free will until their owners allow it." Ron said and then jumped when Hermione huffed at that.

"That's barbaric!"

Ron shrugged again, "Yeah, but house elves are used to it. They like working."

"How do you know if you've never met one?"

"I've seen one. I remember going into the Ministry with Dad, a few years ago. One official had this tiny elf follow him all over the place."

"They shouldn't treat elves like that! They have feelings."

Hermione kept retorting Ron about elves and slavery while Harry thought it over. This particular house elf had said that someone had told him to approach Harry and deliver an extremely vague warning.

A well-off family where some don't mind using house elves for delivering warnings.

'_Yeah, that narrows down the search_.' Bolt muttered. Harry sighed and wrote in his potions text book – stirring helps.

* * *

_The smell of mangoes wafted through the air. Strange, Harry knew mango trees grew in the tropical places but he could definitely sense a lot of mangoes._

_He looked around. He was sitting on a bean bag in a large living room, holding his guitar. He couldn't exactly remember how he got here, but everything felt normal. He got up and walked towards the windows._

_The yard outside was huge. Simple green grass grew, curling around themselves to make soft ground for people to walk barefoot. The open skies were so inviting to Harry that he felt like dropping his guitar and grabbing his Nimbus. He blinked and realised that instead of the dark brown guitar, he was holding his Nimbus 2000. _

_Not thinking of the strangeness, Harry jumped out the window and was about to climb when he heard some giggling._

_Turning to his right, he saw many trees and plants around the area. On a large mango tree, there was a woman climbing the branches with ease. Whenever she stretched her hand, a branch would bend for her to grasp and hold. Harry watched in awe. She was moving a grace he had never seen. Her dark red hair was tied in a loose bun and she wore a simple green shirt with blue jeans. _

"_Mum!" He called. The woman turned around, her bright green eyes almost sparkling in happiness. _

"_Come on, sweetheart!" She called. Harry dropped his Nimbus and ran towards her. He started climbing the tree too. Like her, the branches helped him up and soon, he was next to her._

"_Could you feel the connection?" She asked smiling. Harry nodded helplessly. He stared at her and couldn't look away. Her face was glowing. May be because of her Core or her happiness, he wasn't sure of._

"_Do you promise to visit more?" She asked and Harry nodded without thinking._

"_Good." She kissed his cheek and vanished in a faint green flash, appearing on the grass which tried to curl around her ankles. He watched as she walked over to her husband and twelve year old daughter. He was holding a broomstick and talking about a Quidditch Keeper's agility._

"_Dad! I know. Being a Seeker's great, but Harry's better at that. I wanna be a Keeper!" Rose whined and her father laughed. He ruffled her wild red hair and said, "Fine. This family's a Quidditch team in itself! I'm the Chaser –"_

"_I'll say." His wife muttered._

" – _you're a beautiful Beater, Lils. We've got a Seeker on a mango tree and a Keeper right here!"_

"_Being a Beater is easy. I just visualize the bludger with your face, James." The woman laughed and her husband shook his head morosely._

"_Honestly, Lillian. Why would anyone in this world want to destroy my handsome face? You're mother's a little crazy, kids. Remember that."_

_She swatted him on the shoulder and Rose rolled her eyes. She looked and smiled at Harry._

"_Come on, Hare-Bear, bet I'll catch the Snitch before you!"_

"_Don't call me that!" Harry yelled and jumped down to get his broomstick. But his feet never touched the ground. He seemed to go right through it and he shut his eyes. The blackness pressed inside his eyelids and he felt as though he was flying._

_._

_Suddenly, he was in a car. A shiny red brand new car, by the looks of it. He was driving at speeds that muggle cops would consider illegal and he was pretty sure that he'd give both his mothers, Lily Potter and Sally Jackson, heart attacks. _

_And he was angry. Very angry. But he had a destination in mind. He was precise and his plan was immaculate. If everything went according to plan, he could save his world. The one person he loved above everything and everyone else._

_He floored the gas and the car went faster. The road was large and empty. The highway leaned upwards and Harry saw another car riding straight at him from a distance. He felt dangerous. He was dangerous. Nobody messed with him and got away with it._

_He reached for his neck and pulled a small circular pendant from inside his shirt. He held it carefully in his right hand. His left hand was on the steering wheel. The speedometer read 170 mph. He took one look at the delicate pendant and concentrated._

_If this didn't work, he'd crash into the other car and there was little chance he'd survive that. Playing Chicken wasn't something he'd ever thought he'd do._

_The pendant suddenly moved and his surroundings disappeared._

* * *

Harry opened his remained quite still, trying to understand what had just happened.

Dreams. They were just dreams. Harry let out a breath and saw that he was in his dorm room and on his bed. Not playing with his family or driving at high speeds on a death wish.

It was strange. The first dream was clearly something related to the other one he had some time ago, but this one didn't seem as shocking to him. He'd accepted the dream and was ready to participate in it.

The second dream opened more questions and answered nothing. He was definitely angry about something. He could remember the feel of the wind on his face. The open topped car had been clearly fast. Why was he driving like that? Something had... threatened him? Who was in the other car? What was the pendant he had been holding? He'd never seen anything like it before. But there was something strange about it. He could feel its magic.

Dreams! They were just dreams!

Harry groaned and got up. He stared at the clock and sighed. Three in the morning. Wonderful. What was he supposed to do now?

_Go back to sleep?,_ his reflection in the mirror on the side shelf suggested. Bolt yawned in his head, _'Yes, please go back to sleep.'_

Harry blinked and rubbed his eyes. His sleepiness was disappearing. He propped the pillow and leaned against the headboard, listening to the snores of his dorm mates.

He tried to think about his first dream. That made more sense. It was almost like staring into the Mirror of Erised except he was allowed to participate in it. And it was even more painful.

His mother's smile and families' laughter was burnt into his brain. He'd never forget it. She could climb trees like he did. That was expected since he inherited his nature Core from her, but he'd never expected to see it.

His 'Dad' could joke so easily and earn his families' satisfaction. He had wanted to join them, but somehow felt like a stranger they had adopted.

Rose had called him 'Hare-Bear'; that was truly strange, since he was neither a hare nor a bear, but it sounded annoying. And endearing in a sibling kind of way. He was just glad that Percy had never called him anything like that.

What puzzled him was why he was seeing dreams specifically of them. Family moments that would never happen. It wasn't possible. And yet this was the second time. It couldn't be a coincidence. There were no such things as coincidences.

"Dreams!" He muttered. "They're just dreams."

* * *

Harry and the other second years lined up for Herbology. Now that they were starting on the project for mandrakes, they were assigned to re-pot all the growing plants into larger pots.

"Everyone has an earmuff? Good. You remember how I showed you last time. A firm grip on the stem." Professor Sprout announced as she put people in groups of two for every plant.

"This is important, children. The group who can do the most within the hour's time, will receive points for their work. And if you remember the text book article about their most important use, you will get a small prize!"

Whispering broke out excitedly and the students put on their earmuffs.

Since it blocked out all sounds, they couldn't have conversations and the only noises were from the mandrake plants or from some children yelling out as the plant kicked mud at their faces or bit their fingers.

Harry and Ron were teamed together and their work was the fastest since, the plant didn't fuss in Harry's arms. It didn't scream, only letting out small whines. They each got five points at the end for re-potting 17 plants.

When there were five minutes to go, Sprout asked them the question again. Hermione was the first to raise her hand.

"Mandrakes or Mandragora are mainly grown for their buds which when cut and stewed makes up for the main part of the advanced Awakening Potion. It's used to return petrified people to their original states."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor and..." Sprout took out a golden turnip and handed it to Hermione.

"It's heavy!" Ron said in surprise as he balanced the little prize in his hands. Hermione grinned and said, "It's made of pure bronze but it's gold-plated. Did you know that in ancient times, gold was more easily available than bronze making it less valuable?"

"No." Ron said tossing the turnip to Harry who gave it a look before giving it back to Hermione.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yes?"

Harry hesitated when Ron looked their way. He hadn't wanted to tell anyone, but his head was experiencing migraines and it was not good.

"Come over here." He pulled the both of them out of the crowd and onto the grounds, walking behind their classmates.

"What?" Ron asked. Harry ran his hand through his hair and then said, "At the moment there are two worlds, right?"

"Worlds?" they questioned.

"Muggles and Wizards."

"Yeah. So?"

"What if there was another?" Harry said watching their faces.

Ron and Hermione stared at him. "You mean, like another huge secret world nobody else knows about? What are the odds of that?"

Harry sighed, "A few years ago, I knew this boy. He was different like me. He could do... stuff. But then he and his family moved to the US."

"I don't think there's any magical activity in America, Harry." Ron said carefully.

"That's just it! What if it isn't magic? What if it's something else?"

Hermione shook her head, "Harry, do you realise the odds of having such a big secret in the same world? There has to be someone to make sure that we never cross! Someone omnipotent, and I'm pretty sure no one is that powerful!"

"Just curious, but this kid. Who's he?" Ron interrupted.

"Just a neighbour of mine."

"Is it 'Percy'?" Ron asked. Harry looked up in surprise not expecting Ron to connect it so quickly.

"Percy?" Hermione asked confused.

"Not Ron's brother. My friend." Harry clarified.

"What kind of stuff could he do?" Ron persisted. Harry wondered how to exactly saw it carefully, because strictly speaking, it wasn't possible for two people to share a type of magic Core. But since Percy and Ron existed without being destroyed, it just solidified the fact that this third world was possible.

"Something like you, Ron." Harry said staring intently at a blade of grass which started to grow almost uncontrollably under his gaze.

"What does that mean?" Hermione asked slowly.

"You know? Water stuff. Breathing underwater. Controlling it. Connecting with it on another level... that stuff." Harry started walking towards the castle.

Ron and Hermione didn't follow him for a few seconds. Then they turned around and ran.

"That's impossible!" Hermione said and pulled Harry to a stop.

"That's why I think Percy's a part of this other world." Harry justified but Hermione shook her head.

"No, Harry. I'm telling you. We would have found out!"

"May be there's something that makes sure no one knows anything!" Harry said raising his voice over her speculations. "May be neither of our worlds have ever crossed each other until the day I met Percy! May be there's something else!"

"Alright, what makes you so special to involve you in something huge like this?!" Ron asked.

Harry and Hermione stared at him. Ron blushed. "Oh yeah. Hey! You think this has something to do with You-Know-Who?"

Harry frowned and shook his head, "I'm not sure. I hope not. Dumbledore says the Ministry doesn't encourage people into going to America. They're wary of the fact that there isn't any magical detection in those countries. I think there's something else."

"And your friend, Percy. Did he seem abnormal or strange?" Hermione asked.

Harry tried not to be angry at the way she asked. He tried to see it from her point of view. Percy did sound mysterious.

"He's... well, he's my friend. We're really close. His mother was everything the Dursleys weren't. She made sure I got through classes and such. She seemed Muggle, but he was different. Like me."

"So you trust him, right?" Hermione confirmed. Harry nodded.

"What's his age?" Ron asked.

"Same as ours. He's twelve now."

"Look, maybe he went into another Wizarding school –"

"Then how do you explain his powers?" Harry shot Ron who sighed.

"Alright, fine. There must be something in America for him then. Did you ask Dumbledore whether you could visit?" Hermione conceded watching Harry's expression.

"Yes. And he said that I have to find a way on my own."

She looked taken aback. "But... you're underage! How does he expect you to travel across an ocean? International Apparation isn't possible there. No flying, no portkeys. You can go the Muggle way, I suppose – "

"I don't think that's what he meant." Harry mumbled but Ron looked interested, "You mean flying in the muggle way. Those planes?"

"Yes. If he meant a magical way... you think he was referring to Bolt?"

Harry frowned and shook his head. "That's too dangerous for her. She's too young. Multiple teleportations, faraway distances, too many people... no."

Bolt gave a sniff and stretched in his pocket. But she didn't contradict him.

"I think it has something to do with my Core." Harry muttered but they heard it.

"Really? I'm not sure how much the plants can help in travelling." Ron said unsure. Harry sighed in exasperation. "Let's just go back to the castle."

* * *

**Stay tuned for the next!**

**Cabba.**


	11. Memories

**The story's almost as the same as JKR's, but with Harry's involvement in this style, it's different. So I'll fast forward some parts.**

**RedRangerBelt – You have a knack for asking the right questions. They're spoiler questions! Harry's one of the smartest characters in my story. He'll be able to figure it out. Ginny's story – you guys know it.**

**Moriviv/Weird'sMyName - The two chapters I have written is part of Percy's side of the Pumki series. Starts with the lightning thief in my Percy's version. I'll start posting it after Harry's third year.**

**Listening to – 'This is the End' from StarKid Productions.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the HP series. JKR does.**

**Words – 2296**

* * *

Harry couldn't sleep that night. You can't sleep when you dream about drowning in black water.

"Damn it!" Harry whisper yelled as he got out angrily and stubbed his toe against his table in the dark. Right, he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.

It wasn't healthy. Harry hated water. He didn't like large bodies of anything fluid. Especially black water.

This also proves his rotten luck that even though he loathed water, his best friend and brother were water-benders.

This really wasn't healthy. Harry's dreams were becoming erratic and were messing with his sleep. The nightmares were increasing in intensity by the weeks.

His past was catching up.

Harry groaned and put his head in his hands, sitting on his bed. He could remember that night like it was yesterday. Every detail. Percy and he had nearly died.

Halloween, 2001. The house was broken into. Mum had tucked them in about an hour ago. They were so excited for 'trick or treating'.

That night everything had changed. Harry recalled waking up on a tree branch suspended dangerously over the river in Crescent forest. The river was healing Percy just has the tree was healing Harry. He could see the water running red from Percy's wounds. As much as it tried to heal him, the water couldn't keep the blood in.

Harry and Percy were so pale because they didn't have enough blood in their bodies. They didn't tan because the melanin was insufficient. Their body temperatures were permanently lower than normal others because of the low levels of blood.

Harry had nearly drowned. _They_ had thrown him in a tank of water and closed the lid. Black water.

Harry wasn't sure how he was still alive.

And Mum? Well, she had pale skin too. So must have had a near death experience too. One which Harry hadn't witnessed.

But the problem was Sally didn't remember. The first time Harry had seen her on that Halloween morning, he knew at once that she had no clue of what happened.

And Percy was completely oblivious. Percy didn't know a thing. No one knew. Not even Bolt.

And Harry kept it that way.

* * *

"_You_" Harry's reflection told him, "_are a ray of sunshine."_

"Thanks." Harry muttered staring at his hair in the mirror. Christmas was coming soon, but all Harry could think of was how Sally Jackson's birthday was closing in. She'd be thirty this year.

And she'd also fret about the state of his hair. For some reason, his black strands were standing as though he had been electrocuted.

"Is there something different about?" Ron's voice came about and Harry saw him leaning against the bed post smirking.

"Is there something funny?" Harry retorted.

"Yup!"

"I don't know why my hair's like that. It's not going down!"

"Have you tried, oh… I don't know, cutting it? That's what most guys in the world do when their hair grows long." Ron said as casually as he could.

Harry turned around and gave him a glare, "If I cut my hair, it will grow into spikes!"

"Well, you look like a 'spikes' guy. Anyway, why is it like that? Isn't gravity affecting it?" Ron asked chortling now.

"I'm not sure." Harry mumbled trying to flatten his hair with his hands.

"I'll tell you. Gravity will never affect it." DJ said walking into the room. His own hair was wild, but at least it looked asleep. Harry's looked as though he had been in an electric roller coaster ride.

DJ gave a grimace, "Harry, what happened to you?!"

There was a loud yawn from the room. Harry, Ron and DJ stared around. There wasn't anyone else in the second years' dorm except for them.

And whoever let out the yawn.

"Is there a lion in here?" DJ whispered slowing inching towards Harry. Ron jumped when there was a long purr of a feline and he too backed towards the others.

There was some scratching and ripping sounds coming from Harry's bed. The curtain was partially drawn and so the three boys couldn't see what was happening.

Harry swallowed and took out his wand. Ron and DJ did the same and pointed it at the bed. The curtain fluttered around and then suddenly was torn from its hooks. It fell on something in a bundle. The heap started moving around frantically.

"_Ow! Get me out!"_ Bolt's voice yelled from it. Harry, being the only one who could hear it rushed forwards.

"Wait!" DJ shouted. But Harry removed the curtains to reveal…

"Bolt?!" Harry asked in shock.

Harry's familiar was liking her paw and stretching like a kitten because she was a kitten. Not the golden haired small dog, but a tiny little baby cat with large light brown eyes. She blinked at him and mewed.

"_Hey, Harry! I'm trying different forms. It makes my fur stick up though. That's why I'm licking it down. May be you should do the same?"_

"That's a kitten. Why do you have a kitten? Where's Bolt?" Ron asked confused. Harry blinked a few times before saying, "You're second question answered the first question and vice-versa."

"Huh?"

Harry hesitated before leaning down to scoop Bolt into his palm. She fit right in.

"Meet Bolt." Harry said.

"Meow." Bolt said.

* * *

"That explains the hair." Hermione said not being able to take her eyes of the little kitten.

"May I hold her?"

"Ask her."

"Bolt?"

"Meow."

Bolt stretched and climbed easily into Hermione's palm.

"She's adorable!" Hermione cooed stroking Belt's neck.

Harry and Ron made a face at that. Bolt was tiny. And kittens usually were cute (there was no other word for it, really.) But to say it in that level of affection seemed a bit –

"Merlin's Beard!" Someone shouted along the corridor. Everyone walking around jumped. Lockhart was walking towards him, his robes flying like a cape. He was staring in horror at Harry's hair.

"Having a bad hair day, Harry?" Lockhart patted his shoulder sympathetically.

Harry stared at him in wary, "It's turning out to be a bad day alright."

"You should try some of my wondrous hair products. They're, pardon the pun, magical! It will give you the hair you want!"

"No… no, I can manage this. I like my hair. Just a little messy –"

"A little messy?! Wars are a little messy, this is a calamity!"

"Rrrrrright. Oh look! There goes the bell. Have to get to class!"

Harry tried not to run from the scene. As it was, he did reach Transfiguration class first.

* * *

The next few days were turning colder. Snow was slowly covering the large green grounds and the scene was lovely to watch. Harry sat on the roof of the tower, guitar laid untouched. He stared at the lake which now had a thin layer of ice on it. With the snow, it looked as though the lake would turn white. Snow wasn't bad. He appreciated snow since it made things 'not black'.

When was the last time he had made a snow angel? When Percy was still in Surrey. That was a while ago.

Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, but not many people were looking forward to it. Most have already booked a seat on the Hogwarts Express to go home. This was in light of recent events.

Joining Mrs. Norris in the Hospital Wing was Colin Creevey, DJ's best friend, Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor Ghost and Justin Finch-Fletchley. All petrified.

It didn't help that Harry was suspect number one. People claimed that Harry had gone after Colin because the first year was bugging him. But in reality, Colin was never a nuisance. Harry had, in fact, even asked the boy for help to make some of the photos he had 'wizardified.'

Most of Harry's pictures of the Jacksons were in Colin's trunk. He was pretty sure no one would like it if he retrieved them.

Some students were convinced that they heard Harry complaining about Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party. And according to them, it seemed a good enough reason to attack a ghost.

About two weeks ago, Lockhart had put up a Wizarding Duel Club and guess who was singled out in that?

Harry! Hole in One!

It wasn't Harry's fault that the snake looked a lot like his old friend Lih. He had asked the snake to stop scaring the students.

The scared students had asked him to stay away from them.

Apparently, having conversations with snakes was a taboo.

The bigger problem was the snake looked as though it was about to strike Justin. Telling the snake 'back off' had proved to be almost as lethal as not doing anything at all.

Harry sighed and tossed around the black diary in his hands. Ron and he had found the diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Hermione had said that she didn't find an empty book very interesting, but Harry begged to differ. The book was dated nearly five decades ago and looked as though it was only a few years ago.

"_Preservation charms." Hermione had said, rolling her eyes._

"_Why would someone preserve an empty book?" Harry had asked. She didn't know and this made Harry sure that the diary wasn't as ordinary as it looked. _

Harry leaned back to look at the clouded sky. It had started snowing again. The flakes were falling gently. It'd be heavier in the night.

Harry wanted to run. Run forever and never look back. But the problem was he would always look back to see what he would leave behind. He couldn't forget.

"Percy, I really miss you." He whispered to the snow who seemed to be a very patient listener.

* * *

Harry woke up late. That was a first. He didn't have any dreams and he actually slept fitfully. He turned and saw Tom's diary on his bed stand. He remembered the memory Tom had shown him the night before. He didn't want to believe it. Seriously? How could Hagrid do something like that? He couldn't even keep a secret.

But Hagrid did like monsters. Harry rubbed his hands on his hair which seemed flatter than before. Good. Bolt must be getting used to her cat form.

He stuffed his books and got down to the Great Hall just in time to get an apple from Ron's plate.

"That was mine." Ron said.

"Oh sorry." Harry covered the apple with both hands and squeezed. Then he opened his palms to reveal two bright red apples one of which he gave a stunned Ron.

"That's bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed looking at his new apple. Hermione gave a frown at his language but looked quite impressed herself.

"Thanks. But I have something to tell you guys." Harry said pulling them out of the hall.

"What – "

"No way! That's not a diary, is it Potter?" Flint's voice boomed over the corridor. Harry realized his bag was open but was unable to stop Flint from snatching out the black book. A few other books fell out too, including Harry's music book.

"Give it back, Flint." Harry said carefully, watching him smirk.

"I wonder what he's written in it." Flint said and opened it. His smirk dissolved for a second before snorting, "Haven't started, yet? Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be writing down all your targets in it."

Harry knew that Flint was trying to taunt him. Harry also knew that he was failing miserably.

"Well, that's that plan ruined. I might as well pack up and give up. All the valentine cards I made for you, Flint, is going down the drain."

The entire corridor erupted into laughter. With the recent attacks, there hadn't been many cheer-ups.

Flint's expression was definitely worth a laugh.

"What's all this hubbub? The bell's rung and everyone should be getting to class now!" Percy Weasely's voice came from around the corner. He frowned at Flint who seemed to be in the middle of the crowd.

Flint growled and threw the book back to Harry who picked up his other books. Without another word they left.

"Free period now." Harry said. "I have to tell you something."

* * *

"Hagrid?" Ron asked in disbelief. Hermione shook her head. Harry felt frustrated.

"I swear the book wrote back to me and showed me a memory of its past owner. Tom said that Hagrid opened the Chamber fifty years ago!"

"Do you believe it?" Hermione asked.

"Not entirely. I mean, what kind of object can show memories? This isn't a pensieve." Harry said slowly.

"Look, Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just ask him about it?" Hermione suggested but then, Ron rolled his eyes.

"That'll be a cheerful visit! 'Hello Hagrid! Tell us. Have you been letting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?' "

" 'Mad and 'airy?' Yeh wouldn't be talking 'bout me there, would yeh?" Hagrid asked, almost appearing behind the trio, out of nowhere in the deserted corridor.

"No!" Ron and Hermione said quickly blushing. Harry blinked ad stared at a can in Hagrid's huge hand.

"What's that you got there, Hagrid?"

Hagrid looked down almost in surprise, "Oh. Flesh Eating Slug repellant. Fer the school cabbages. Sprout says once they get big enou', we cut 'em up, stew 'em and add it to the mandrake potion. We'll be getting' them petrified people outta the hospital win' soon."

"That's good." Harry said staring at Hagrid's face clearly. The large face was nearly covered by the wild tangles of hair and beard, but Harry could easily see the shining black eyes filled with the warmth Hagrid always had. There was nothing fake to it. Hagrid couldn't have set a monster on someone. May be it just got loose. He did like many dangerous pets…

* * *

**Stay tuned to next week!**

**Cabba. **


	12. Mystery continues

**RedRangerBelt – All in good time, my constant supporter.**

**Weird'sMyName – It was an introduction to what actually happened. It will be revealed in future. Yes.**

**Thank you to everyone else!**

**I've posted a new one-shot - The Gifts. From the Pumki Universe! Check it out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Harry Potter.**

**Words – 2806**

* * *

Harry turned Tom's diary over and over in his hands. He really wasn't sure how Tom got a memory into a book. The only thing that held memories were minds and pensieves and the latter were properly enchanted to not let delicate moments erode away or wash into each other.

What Harry found most interesting were the similarities between the boy and himself. Both orphans who treasured Hogwarts. Both slightly more knowledgeable than the staff about the on-goings. And the way Tom talked to Dumbledore.

Ron didn't like the two-way communication at all.

"Books aren't supposed to respond when you write in it unless it's properly charmed by someone. Who would charm a fifty year old diary and leave it in a slightly flooded girl's bathroom?"

"Tom's not sure of it."

"Harry! Listen! I am getting a very bad feeling about this Tom character. He goes and arrests Hagrid! Hagrid would never have killed someone!"

Harry sighed and nodded, "Hagrid wouldn't. But if he did hear of the Chamber of Secrets monster don't you think he'd be interested enough to look for it? I think Hagrid knows something."

"Hagrid knows what?" DJ asked walking up to Harry and Ron. The boys pushed Tom's diary into Harry's bag and turned to face DJ. Their presence in the Common Room was ignored by most others and Hermione was in the Girls' Dorms.

"Hey, Danny. How're you?" Harry asked. DJ's expression soured, "Brilliant."

Ron snorted, "You sound like Harry when he becomes moody."

DJ sighed. "Madam Pomfrey isn't letting me in. She thinks someone can go in the hospital wing and finish of the victims."

Harry understood. Ever since Colin had been petrified, DJ had spent more time with Ginny. But lately she had been avoiding him too. DJ's sullen expression told him that Ginny hadn't talked to him for the whole day, probably.

"Right. Um, we gotta go now… " Ron started but DJ looked up hopefully, "Can I come?"

Harry rubbed the back of his head. He shared a look with Ron before saying, "Actually, Ron and I were going to an adult about a certain confusion that's puzzling us."

DJ blinked. "Okay. Who?"

"Someone busy and I hope he can fit us into his time schedule so don't get your hopes up, DJ. We'll – "

"Awww. Come on! Please! Harry! I swear I won't get in the way. But I'm so bored!"

"Don't you have homework, Danny?"

"No. Actually, well yeah, there's Snape's but I'm doing that later. It's due next week."

Ron stared, "Snape's given you homework due _next week_! He never did that for us!"

* * *

"Hagrid's hut! Cool! You know, we actually came down here a few weeks ago and Hagrid told us that he'd been feeding Energized Chicken feed to his roosters. Makes their voice stronger." DJ said enthusiastically as the three of them crossed the bridge and saw the top of Hagrid's hut.

" 'We'?" Harry asked turning around.

"Oh. Well, Colin and me. He took the photo of the three of us, you know." His voice became a bit sullen and Ron immediately said, "Oh! Look at that Harry! Your flower plant's in buds."

Harry looked down at the group of thick Tigerlily plants curling around the foot of the main fence into Hagrid's pumpkin patch. There were a few bud peeking out from the leaves. They seemed to face him as though he were the sun.

There was a ripping sound and Harry looked ahead to see large black horses with wings feeding on the carcasses of cows. Harry frowned. They resembled less like horses the more he stared at them. He could see the skin stretched over their bones as though they were terribly malnourished. There were about half a dozen of them, tethered to a large pole at the outskirts of the forest a distance away from the hut.

"Are they horses?" DJ asked looking at them feed. Harry shook his head.

"Flying horses?"

"No. They aren't horses." Harry said adjusting his cap and looking around for Hagrid.

"What aren't horses?" Ron asked staring at the two of them. DJ rolled his eyes, "Those horse-like things, Ron."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at that!" DJ said pointing at the creatures. Ron looked over the distance and his jaw dropped, "I… what's eating it?!"

"Eating what?"

"The dead animals?"

"The horses are dead?!" DJ yelled wide-eyed staring at the black animals. Harry stared at Ron who was looking at the cows in a horrified trance.

"Danny's talking about the horse-like creatures." Harry muttered.

"Okay. Okay, what horse-like creatures?" Ron asked slowly.

"Merlin's beard! Harry, he can't see them!" DJ said in awe.

" 'Merlin's beard'?" Ron asked. "I don't understand."

"What're yeh three doin' out 'ere?!" A voice shouted from the hut and the boys saw Hagrid standing there. Something must have been bothering him. Harry could see that he looked a little upset on seeing them.

"Uh…"

"Yeh shouldn' be wanderin' around the grounds! It's after dark! With what's happenin', are yeh crazy?!"

"Hagrid! Wait, we have to ask you something and it concerns with what's happening." Harry said before Hagrid could push them away.

"Yeah." DJ joined, "What's that?" He asked pointing to the black winged creature apparently invisible to Ron.

"Thestrals. Not the point! Yeh have the go –"

"Hagrid! Why were you expelled? The truth, please." Harry said loudly into the stunned silence. Hagrid looked as though he was in shock.

"Way to break the ice." Ron whispered. One moment, they were all yelling, the next, there was silence. Harry saw his tiger lily flutter even though there was no breeze.

"What?" Hagrid asked slowly.

"What?" DJ asked confused. "Is that why we're here?"

"Hagrid… you have to tell us. I know that you're connected in this. These accidents, you know something."

Hagrid looked around to check whether anyone was spying on them.

"Inside!" he ushered them in. They hurried in; Harry followed, taking a last look at his flower.

* * *

Finding his trunk and bed stand ransacked was not fun.

It was a good thing Harry knew the theory of the repairing charm. He got most his books, parchments, inkbottles, quills, bed sheets, curtains, pillow, mattress, jumpers, hoodies and an Exploding Snap pack fixed back before realizing that Tom's diary wasn't among his books.

"That's not good." Ron said. Harry was about to ask Ron about the diary before watching Ron stare at the Snap pack which was quivering.

"It's about to blast." DJ said in awe.

It did.

* * *

"You're sure you left it in the bag?" Hermione asked for the umpteenth time and Harry pressed his lips together before answering, "Yes! If you ask once more, Hermione, my answer is still the same! We went to talk to Hagrid – "

"Who kept talking about spiders." Ron muttered.

"Apparently the Ministry didn't care what kind of monster he had as long as he had one – "

"And that's not strange at all." DJ interjected.

"Acromentulae do not petrify people – "

"I'd be petrified." Ron said.

"But they arrested the wrong person. Dumbledore somehow got him to stay at Hogwarts – "

"He's the best Keeper of Keys."

"But now that the attacks have begun again – "

"Someone decided to come out of retirement."

"Hagrid might be removed – "

"They better not put Filch in his position."

"Will you let me talk?!" Harry interrupted both Ron and DJ. "Look, I'm think Tom made a mistake and turned in Hagrid."

Hermione sighed, "Last time, a girl died. That's what Tom said, right? So everyone was desperate to find the culprit."

"The moment he realized that Hagrid had a pet giant spider, Tom must have panicked. He must've been muggleborn himself. His diary was bought in a completely non-wizard locality and he lived in an orphanage in the summer." Harry said.

"He's kinda like me." DJ said thoughtfully. "Except, I don't keep a diary and put my memories in it for people in the future to read them."

Hermione huffed in frustration and slammed three of her text books on Defense Against the Dark Arts on the Common Room table making Ron and DJ jump. Harry stared at her.

"You can't put memories in books!" She said heatedly.

"Herm –"

"No, listen. I've been in the library searching about it. There's no way to preserve memories without specific authentication by the Ministry and pensieves. Only warlocks and some pure-blooded families even have them, because it's heavily enchanted by an Unspeakable."

"What?" DJ asked confused.

"Unspeakables work in very discreet parts of the Ministry. If Tom really put his memories in a book, he'd have to be a very powerful wizard, i.e., warlock. There are no warlocks by the name of 'Riddle'."

She leveled them with her McGonagall glare, daring one of them to say something against her.

"Have you checked on 'Marvolo'?" Harry asked, almost casually, rubbing his forehead wondering how long it would take for his eyebrows to grow back fully.

* * *

Once the frigid weather had passed into slightly warmer conditions, the excitement of Quidditch was back on. Harry visited Greenhouse three everyday to check on Mandrake plants. His visits helped them grow faster and Sprout was happy with the progress saying that it would take only a couple of weeks for them to mature out completely.

There were no other attacks for nearly a month and everyone felt a happy change over the year's events.

Harry did his best to shove the bacon down his throat and managed to wash them down with pumpkin juice. A tie breaker match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was scheduled within an hour. The winner would face Slytherin in the finals. Harry kept feeling nervous. Usually he wasn't this jumpy, but the hairs on the back of his neck prickled as though a cold breeze blew around the warm Great hall which was buzzing in excitement.

"Hey, good buddy. So, you're up for the game?" Ron asked slapping Harry on the back, sending him into a choking it on pumpkin juice.

"Okay, someone's tense. Look, you can out fly all of them in circles and swallow the snitch, no one's gonna complain. Wood might make it compulsory for you to have one golden snitch per match in your diet!"

"Keep your voice down." Harry hissed. The last thing Wood needed to hear were the words, 'Harry', 'snitch' and 'compulsory' in one sentence. It would be the end of Harry's free time.

"You're usually ready for a match. Nervousness is not your cup of tea, Harry." Hermione said sitting down, opposite them. She, like Ron, wore the Gryffindor scarf in the spirit of the season.

"Nervousness is not anyone's cup of tea." Harry countered, "But I'm fine. I just have to eat something before my empty stomach decides to empty itself."

"Gross. Anyway, Harry you did finish Binns' essay, didn't you?" Ron asked.

Harry looked up at the change in topic and nodded.

"Good. Faster for me."

"Ron! You have to do it by yourself!"

"Hermione, relax. I'm just gonna read through it before doing mine, besides, you hearing any complain from Harry?"

"What's so hard about writing the difference in ruling styles of Uric the Oddball and his nephew? The chapter's pretty straightforward."

"I literally cannot read the chapter. It's too boring. They waged war on the Edelberts, they lost. Binns doesn't want a one line answer."

"The Edelberts were sneaky and corrupt. They used gold to win. So in reality, the Oddballs were better in dueling." Harry interjected, pushing around his bacon and staring at his reflection in the plate.

"Just horrible in scheming." Hermione finished. She took a sip of water and moved a bit to the side as DJ plomped down beside her.

"I'm gonna try for the team, next year." He said enthusiastically. Harry looked up in surprise trying to think what position would be left. No way, would Wood want to change the players. With the latest practices, the seven players were able to coordinate very well.

"You might end up in the reserve team, Danny." Harry commented. DJ frowned at that and then looked over the Slytherin table, "I still can't believe Malfoy bought brooms for everyone on the team. It's stupid."

"It's bribery."

"Bribery's stupid."

"Truer words have never been said." Hermione smiled. Ron muffled a snort.

"Harry, you promised to get me a broom." DJ suddenly sat up staring at Harry.

"Yes, but not this year."

"It wouldn't hurt if you got one this year."

"It might. You may fly it into a wall, lake, tree –"

"Why would I do that?"

"If you lose control of it – "

"Why would I lose control?"

"I'm just saying."

"You're trying to find excuses to not buy me one!"

"Yes, you have uncovered my evil plan."

Fred and George came over grinning swinging their beater bats around. "Yes the most evil plan of the heir of Slytherin!"

"Do not buy a broom for the short cousin!"

"I'm not short!"

"I'm not the heir of Slytherin."

"Don't worry about the match Mr. Heir." George said patting Harry's shoulder, "People won't fly close to you."

"Thanks." Harry muttered.

Suddenly, Harry felt a little dizzy. He blinked his eyes hard and the sound of the Great Hall drowned away when Harry distinctly heard a horribly old voice which rang through his ears.

_Kill you…blood…_

Harry jumped, banged his knee against the table and swore in Spanish. Everyone looked at him in alarm.

"Did you hear that?! That voice?" He asked Ron and Hermione frantically. They looked confused and shook their heads.

"You keep saying about this voice that only you can hear. This really isn't good." Ron said looking around them.

Hermione's head shot up and her mouth fell open. "Oh!" She said and scrambled away from the table.

"What?" Harry asked. He could see that she had understood something that he hadn't.

"Hermione!"

"I need proof. I think… I'll just be at the library. I won't miss the match!" She ran out the Hall ripping the scarf from her throat.

"Please tell me you know what she's thinking." Ron pleaded.

Harry's jaw was a little slack as his brain kept thinking about the voice. But he shook his head for Ron. DJ, however took Bolt from Harry's robes, tiny as his palm, and started to pet her fur. She blinked and stretched changing from a kitten into a puppy.

"How can she change forms?" He asked Harry.

Harry swallowed and looked at his familiar. "It's part of her own magic. She came to me as a dog. But when she becomes older, she'll be more advanced. Let's just hope she doesn't change into a huge spider."

Ron shivered at that.

After a few minutes, Wood called on the Gryffindor team. The entire table started cheering for the seven players as they got up to leave for the pitch.

"I'm keeping Bolt." DJ said and Harry nodded.

They left as the rest of the students began to follow them out.

"Bets anyone?" Lee Jordan called out authoritatively. A group of kids rushed to his side and Ron reached in to pull DJ out of the crowd.

"Thanks. You're sure Gryffindor will win?"

"Yeah! Last time, we tied just because Harry of that rogue bludger, but now, it'll be a cinch."

"Yeah, I can't believe that a house elf would do something like that. Did you know that there's a myth that a wizard _created_ the first house elf?"

"Are you gonna spout facts at random times like Hermione?"

"Hey, I like reading magic books. They're like stories. Like the mad wizard who lost his magic because he was obsessed with some stone or something."

Ron rolled his eyes, "This right here is proof that you're related to Harry. Except, you're more fun. And short."

Ron turned to see DJ standing still a few yards behind.

"DJ?"

The boy jerked his head up as though he just had a brain wave. DJ stared at Ron and then gasped.

"What?" Ron asked, alarmed.

"Look, I'll just go to the library and check up on the story I just said. I'll be back with Hermione!"

He ran towards the castle leaving Ron dumbfounded.

* * *

Harry felt a strange tingling sensation through his skin. He grabbed his Nimbus tightly and tried to listen to his Captain's pep talk.

"Right! Let's go. Hufflepuff won't stand a chance." Wood said leading them out their tent. George snorted at that and said, "Not to mention they're scared that Harry'll petrify them, if they go anywhere near him."

"Yeah, that too." Wood shrugged.

Suddenly, pain hit Harry in his head. It scorched through his mind as though he was being burnt. Harry's vision went dark and his body hit the ground hard.

* * *

**Only a few more chapters left. Stay tuned!**

**Cabba.**


	13. Uncovering the Memory

**I am so sorry for the long delay! I'm travelling and it's hard to get a chance to settle down and start typing out chapters. As I said before, the story's coming to an end.**

**I've posted a sweet Christmas one-shot on the Pumki series - The Gifts.**

**Let's cross a hundred reviews and I'll post the last chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the original works of the Harry Potter series. JKR does. Daniel, however is mine.**

**Words – 3622**

**Watching trailer for 'The Lone Ranger.' - Johnny Depp!**

* * *

Harry groaned and clutched his head. It felt as though his head had been burnt and the pain was taking forever to leave. He rubbed his scar furiously before letting out a frustrated sound. It wasn't as if his scar was hurting. But the entire brain had decided to make his right temple extra sensitive to pain.

Harry blinked and looked around. He was sitting in a large field with the grass tickling his face. The sun was bright behind a few white clouds, the sky was blue and there was a small breeze. In short, it was what Sally would have called, a picnic day. Harry looked down to see that he was holding a soft white flower. He twirled it around his fingers and sniffed it. It was a white Tiger Lily. It was beautiful.

There was a slight hint of wilt to it as though it had been left uncared for after being plucked. Harry frowned and felt pity for the flower, before getting up and dusting of his jeans. He looked around and saw not a single soul.

"You hold yourself darkly. That's very sad." A dreamy voice said. Harry turned but couldn't see anyone. The voice, though, was familiar. It was that blond first year. Luna Lovegood.

Harry kept quiet. It was clear that he was dreaming. Dreams never made much sense to him.

"You need to have hope. They're coming for you."

His surroundings changed before Harry could take his next breath. His vision went black before blurring back slowly into a large closed room. He realized that he was on his back staring up at a dull white ceiling illuminated by moonlight.

He was in the Hospital Wing. Harry got up painfully, but silently. His mind ached. It wasn't physical. The pain seemed to be fading but very slowly. Sitting up, Harry let out the breath he had been holding. He was in his Quidditch outfit minus his red cape. Harry looked down to see his Nimbus by the bed stand. His wand was in his holder. Nothing was out of place. Harry looked over himself. No wounds or cuts. What was he even doing in the Hospital Wing?

There was a 'pop'. Harry almost jumped and brought out both, Skothos, his dagger, and his wand. But he caught the sight of a small down-trodden familiar looking creature and stopped.

"Dobby?"

"Just Harry, sir is awake! Dobby was very very worried!" The little house elf squeaked, looking at him with the large tennis ball eyes. Harry stared at him.

"What exactly happened? Wait, Quidditch match…what happened to the match?"

Dobby blinked, "No match, Just Harry. More attacks. Horrible,horrible. Sir should be careful. History is repeating itself! They're coming after you!"

Harry inhaled sharply. "What?!"

Dobby clutched his head and shook himself violently. Suddenly, it looked as though the elf was about to throttle himself. Harry snatched him up and brought him to his eye-level.

"Will you atleast not try to kill yourself, Dobby?"

Dobby dropped his hands and Harry watched them lay limply by his side. He looked at Dobby and said clearly, "Listen, whoever is sending you to warn me about this, should know that they're in danger too. They obviously know more than they should. Tell me who's sending you, Dobby."

Dobby whimpered more out of fear of revealing the truth than Harry's grip on him. He snapped his fingers and disappeared into a wisp. Harry stared at his hand for a second before muttering, "Un día normal! What's wrong with me?"

* * *

Morning came with one of the worst realizations ever. Ron accompanied Harry back to the Common Room. People whispered in the corridors and Harry knew they were talking about him but he didn't care.

Harry had been out for nearly two days before snapping back into consciousness. Poppy couldn't stop him from finding out that Hermione, Danny and Bolt had been the next victims. Whatever had happened to Bolt had struck Harry as well. Poppy had said that Harry nearly slipped into a coma but for somehow, didn't.

"It's nearly dinner time. You want to go to the Hall or…" Ron's voice trailed off as Harry shook his head.

"You can go."

"Not hungry."

Ron seemed as depressed as Harry felt. He realized that Ron had spent two days without either of his best friends. He looked marginally better since when Harry saw him in the hospital Wing, but no doubt, that he was worried about Hermione and the rest.

"It's so obviously a Slytherin." Ron whispered. Harry turned to look at Ron who was staring at the marble staircase, frowning.

"Ron – "

"Listen! Harry they took Hagrid to Azkaban!"

Harry stared."What?!"

"They did. Cornelius Fudge said some crap about precautions and stuff. Then Lucius Malfoy came and tried to get Dumbledore sacked as well."

Harry shook his head slowly."No. They don't have proof. The Ministry wouldn't –"

"They just want to show people that they're doing something. And Malfoy's being a git like Flint. Dumbledore was called by the Board to discuss some official stupidity. But don't you see, Harry? Nobody's really doing anything!"

Ron was clearly angry. Harry could see his Core flashing in his eyes and tried not to back down. If Ron lost control, Hogwarts could get flooded owing to the fact that there were more than enough bathrooms in the castle and there was a large lake on the grounds.

"Ron, you need to calm down, now." Harry said, slowly. They stayed quiet until Ron got his bearings. He blinked and then looked a little surprised at his own behavior. "Yeah, uh… Sorry about that."

"No problem. It… had to have been hard for you…" Harry cleared his throat and his head trying to think what to do next.

"We have to do something." Ron muttered staring at the wall as though it had the answers. Harry frowned and said, "Didn't Hermione say something about the library before the match?"

Ron's head snapped up, "Yeah. She said she understood something. Then, she just apparated away. At least, it looked like that."

Harry nodded and simultaneously, along with Ron, he turned around and they went to the library ignoring everyone else as they went in the direction of the Great Hall.

"Ow!" Ron grumbled as someone walked into him, "Ginny! Where are you… Hey!"

Harry watched as she walked in the opposite path of the others. She turned a right and disappeared. Harry couldn't help it. He lowered his Core Shield and realized that he couldn't feel Ginny's magic.

"Harry, come on." Ron had already walked ahead.

"Did Ginny act a little strange, right now?"

"More so than usual?"

"No, I meant –"

"She bumped into me, that's why you couldn't feel her magic. We keep it under the shield when we're in the same room. It's not really good if both Water and Fire flares up suddenly. You have no idea how many times, the Burrow was flooded or burnt because one of us lost control." Ron said nonchalantly but Harry could hear the stress under his tone. Not wanting to push it, Harry kept quiet for two more floors before walking into the Library.

"Shh!" Ron whispered. They leaned to see Madam Pince, the Librarian, shuffle through some parchments silently before walking into a shelf. She clutched her glasses and her notes fell to the floor. Harry and Ron looked at each other before sneaking into the Library and past her into the restricted Section.

They crouched and Harry wondered if he should have summoned his Invisibility Cloak. He felt Ron tugging on his Quidditch robe and he turned to see a strange black mist hovering over the ground. It looked so transparent that Harry wasn't sure whether if he was imagining it or not.

"Do you see that?" Ron asked silently. Harry nodded.

"Don't touch it." He whispered to Ron. They stood up and walked around it.

"This was where it happened. I heard Dumbledore and Fudge saying it. Hermione must have remembered something she read and DJ was here too. Bolt was with him." Ron said under his breath. Harry stared at the mist before looking up to see one book standing out as it was kept improperly next to the other.

Pulling out the thick brown book which had some symbols on the cover, Harry opened it and the book fell right to a page where half of it was torn.

"That'strange. Pince wouldn't keep any misused book in her library." Harry said watching the lady in timely intervals so that they wouldn't be caught.

"No way Hermione would have tore it out." Ron breathed.

"May be Danny did. I can see him doing that." Harry whispered, his heart clenching. He could also see the young boy motionless on a hospital bed…

"Basilisk?" Ron read confused, diverting Harry's thoughts, thankfully. Harry looked to the top of the page to see the heading written in symbols and English. The word 'Basilisk' was highlighted.

"Basilisk? Is that what's roaming around the castle? A bloody basilisk!" Ron voice was rising in tempo and Harry slapped his palm over his mouth.

Madam Pince looked over in their way suspiciously before stacking her parchments on her table and walking into the Restricted Section. She checked each section and found no one.

* * *

"That was too close!" Ron said as they ran back up the steps in the direction of the Teacher's Staff.

"You're sure someone'll be in the staff room? It's dinner time, you know?"

"Yes, I do. But I'm quite sure there's a direct connection through door from the staff to the Great Hall. If we barge into the Hall… we I don't want anyone else to know what's happening. It'll create pandemonium. Besides, I'm sure there are teachers walking around the corridors. I hope we'll run into one of them on the way." Harry explained.

"Okay, what are we gonna say? There's a snake, the size a couple of dragons, wandering through the plumbing system of the castle. I told you, we need proof!"

Harry stopped running and said patiently, "We tell them everything we know and suspect."

"Basilisks kill. Not petrify. How you gonna explain that one?"

"The clues are all there. They never actually looked at it." Harry explained. It was slowly falling into place.

Ron looked confused, "What?"

"They didn't look at it directly. Colin had his camera, didn't he?"

"Oh! Yeah, I bet Justin saw it through Nearly Headless Nick!"

"Nick's a ghost, he couldn't die again."

"Hermione, DJ and Bolt saw it through the reflecting window, right?" Ron asked, understanding lighting up in his words. Harry nodded, feeling confident. They were finally getting somewhere.

" Mrs. Norris obviously saw the snake's reflection on the water that night, remember?" Harry said suddenly. Ron's eyes widened.

"Wait! I thought only muggle-borns were getting targeted. DJ's a pureblood." Ron said slowly.

Harry blinked. He hadn't thought of that. "May be he was attacked because he was with Hermione."

Ron looked trouble at that. "Someone's getting desperate. I mean, DJ went to the Library because he figured out something."

Harry looked up at that, "What did he say to you before leaving?"

"I don't actually remember. We were just talking before he said he had to go…"

Harry frowned. At times, he hated the fact that he had eidetic memory. Other times, he hated the fact that not everyone did.

"Ron, you have to remember! What were you talking about?"

Ron sighed and shut his eyes and shook his head, "Really. My head's not like yours or Hermione's. All I remember was that we were walking with the rest of the school towards the pitch. I saw Neville in the front and was about to go towards him when I realized DJ was there. We talked about some story. Then he looked up as though a bludger had hit him in the head. Next moment, he was running back to the castle and Bolt followed."

"What story were you discussing?"

"I'm not sure. I told you, I forgot!"

Harry glared at the ceiling before saying, "Hermione was attacked because she figured out what was petrifying people. I think DJ knew who it was. That's why they got him too."

"How do they know who knows what?" Ron muttered.

"If we don't get the person, I think the next victim's gonna be Dobby's master." Harry said unexpectedly.

"What?"

"Dobby the house elf, I told you about? He was trying to warn me, saying that I'm the real target."

Ron stared at Harry before having a look of fear on him.

"Harry… if you're the real target, do think You-Know-Who's behind this?"

Harry blinked. That thought hadn't actually struck him. But Ron was quite right. "Like last year, he might be using someone to do all this. Ron, you got it!"

"I did?!"

"Hermione told me a while ago, about the name 'Marvolo.'"

"What?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. She said Marvolo Gaunt is a direct line of the Slytherin family. Remember what Binns told us about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Tom's the one doing this?!" Ron said aghast.

"Not Tom. The one who has Tom's diary." Harry said, dread filling him. The diary wasn't ordinary. Harry swallowed and turned to look at his reflection in the nearby knight's polished iron shield.

"_No inanimate object can think. The bloke who has this diary is not in a good place_." His warped reflection said seriously.

Harry blanched. His head suddenly pieced everything together. It made sense! The spiders, the message on the wall, the strand, the behavior of –

"Harry, you okay?" Ron asked suddenly. Harry turned to look at him."Ron, you remember that message on the wall? The one written on Halloween?"

"Ye…yeah."

"It was written at a height close to ours, right? Whoever wrote must be shorter than us. So a first or second year."

Ron gaped at him, "No kid could've done that!"

"Danny found a strand of hair that he put it in his pocket before everyone else came into the scene. I remember now. I couldn't see it clearly because he was right under the torch bracket."

"I don't –"

"It was red and long." Harry said slowly waiting for Ron's reaction.

"No." Ron said firmly, glaring at Harry.

"You know, dark magic is called as such because it adsorbs from your Core reserve if you use it. If I recall, I couldn't really feel her Fire Core anytime I was near her in the castle."

"I don't believe you. Forget it."

"She was avoiding everyone for months."

"Shut up."

"You believe me, but you don't want to."

"You're going too far!" Ron hissed pushing Harry towards the wall. Harry clenched his jaw and tried not to retaliate.

"Fine. You can go to the Great Hall, I'm going to try Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom."

Harry turned to walk away when Ron called, "Why?"

Harry half-turned around and said, "A girl died in a bathroom the last time. Maybe, she never left."

Ron rolled onto the balls of his heels. "You're going to ask a ghost?"

Harry hesitated, "What's really wrong in that? Besides, it's the ghosts who know more about Hogwarts than anyone else."

* * *

They never got to the bathroom. On the way, they were sidetracked by the writing on the wall. It hadn't been removed because Filch couldn't take off the blood.

"See?" Harry said, standing close to the wall and raising his arm. His fingers reached at least three inches above the first letter. Ron grimaced, but kept his mouth closed.

"Then why didn't DJ say anything?"

Harry sighed, "May be, he didn't want people to think that she was responsible. May be, he thought it was a coincidence. But the thing is that there are no such things as coincidences."

He turned around and stopped when there was a sniffling sound. Ron walked forwards and watched along with Harry. The ghost of a very glum looking girl floated past a wall oblivious to her surroundings. Harry cleared his throat.

She jumped and stared at the two boys.

"Hello, Myrtle. We met at Nick's Deathday party…" Harry started politely. Her confusion cleared. She ignored them and wet through a staircase when Harry said, "Wait! Myrtle, I need to ask you something! It's really important!"?

She stopped, pocked her head through a step and sniffed, "What?"

"I know this may be a bad time for you, but –"

She glared at him. "Bad time! You have no idea! How would you feel if someone came uninvited to your place and sent you away?"

"What?" Ron asked leaning across the banister. She rubbed her eyes as though they were red and said, "Of course, no one cares for me. Nobody cared when I was alive either."

"Hey, it's not like that. Come here, let's talk." Harry said as soothingly as he could. Truth was Percy. J would have been better at this.

She glared at him, "What d'you want?"

Harry shared a look with Ron before asking, "We want to ask you, how exactly did you die?"

Her facial expressions went from distraught to happiness in a second.

"Oh! It was horrible!" She said delightfully.

Ron whispered to Harry, "Ghosts really like their deaths, don't they?"

"Happened right in my bathroom. I hid in there 'cause Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. Hid in their for hours. Of course, no one looked for me. Who would? Nobody cared. Then I heard someone talking in a kind of made-up language but what really got me was that it was a boy. So I unlocked the door, to yell at him to 'go away'. Then I died." She said sighing dramatically.

Ron thought about it, "Did you die before or after you told the guy to go away?"

"Before." She said, for once, looking far from sad.

"Tall, dark haired, good-looking?" Harry asked thinking fast.

"I didn't really get a glimpse of him because all I saw was a pair of really horrible yellow eyes. Then I was floating away. It felt strange…"

She muttered to herself and went through the ceiling.

"You think it was Tom Riddle?" Ron asked Harry. The latter nodded.

"How old exactly is Voldemort?" Harry wondered. Ron shot him an unsure look.

"I dunno about you, but going into a haunted abandoned classroom is nuts. Let's just tell someone –"

Ron stopped talking. Harry's head snapped up.

There was a loud echoing sound of something large and old like a huge door moving. Shivers went down Harry's spine and he knew something was wrong.

Ron started to breathe faster and they turned towards the direction of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The sound stopped. It was replaced by an even worse sound.

Harry heard a cold, horrible voice say '_blood…smell fresh blood'_

Both Harry and Ron felt terror when they saw the shadow of something huge cast at the end of the corridor. The shadow was long and large and was definitely that of a snake.

Harry felt petrified looking at the shadow. But he knew it would be worse if they looked at the real thing. The shadow's head turned upwards as though it had smelt something. Then it grew larger.

"Run!" Harry hissed grabbing a stunned Ron by the hand and heading back in the direction they had come from. They made a skidding turn to the right but could feel the floor shaking ever so slightly. It was gaining upon them. Harry looked ahead and saw a dead end. The window ahead was large and decorative. Ironically, it was the same window that Danny and Harry had fallen through before.

"We're jumping!" Ron shouted. Harry shook his head. "No, it'd kill you!"

"We're dead as it is! I don't know if you've noticed, but we're being chased by a _goddamn basilisk_!"

Harry looked ahead. The glass looked solid. Harry might survive, but Ron wouldn't.

"No!" Harry stopped and pulled on Ron's arm towards the side of the wall. There were large tapestries behind a few knights. Beside the decorated draperies, was another slot-like hallway big enough for someone their size to fit in.

There was a horrendous amount of hissing from above them, but the basilisk couldn't fit into the space.

The boys crawled as quietly as they could. When they hit a wall, Ron groaned silently. The only way out was the corridor which happened to have a large snake in it.

"Can we panic now?" Ron whispered.

"Just breathe. If we panic, we're done for."

Ron shut his eyes and flinched when the snake hissed angrily. Harry turned his head slightly and recoiled. He could see the lower half of the basilisk's body. It was large, green and fresh. The scales were very reflecting as though it had shed recently. Harry stared at the scales and then at the large window.

"Ron, you remember Transfiguration when McGonagall was talking about altering spells by intent and word meanings?"

Ron stared at him as though he were mad.

"Remember how we turned a matchstick into a needle last year? The needle was reflective. The spell was '_Altrife_.' It's not Latin. But I think we could have changed it into a mirror with the spell, '_Altriste_'."

"What's your point?!"

"Can a basilisk petrify itself by looking into its reflection?" Harry hissed.

Understanding filled Ron's face.

"Wands out." Harry said taking his into his hand, gripping it firmly. This had to work. They were dead, otherwise.

Ron gulped and held his own wand tightly. They pointed at the glass window depicting the Battle of 1324 Gold Rise and shouted the spell hoping with all their strength for a mirror surface.

* * *

**Stay tuned for the next chapter. Percy's going to make a singular appearance!**

**Question – Guess what song Harry and Percy are going to sing and play first in my series? (Clue – It was played in a Vin Diesel movie.)**

**Cabba.**


	14. The Vision

**Last chapter! Pay close attention. Enjoy!**

**Clue to my question – The first song Percy and Harry will play is from a Vin Diesel movie by Good Charlotte.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Twilight. No copyright infringement is meant. (Yes, I know what that means.)**

**Words - 5227**

* * *

Against all odds, the glass glowed and the basilisk hissed. _Pain…kill…._

The glow died down and there was only silence.

"So, who's gonna go and check?" Ron whispered. Harry humoured him and took out his lucky knut.

"Heads, I'll go. Tails, you do the honours."

The result came as Heads and Harry raised himself, but Ron pulled him down.

"Are you mad?!"

"Are you doubting your own magic?" Harry retaliated.

Ron glared at him and Harry sighed, "I can't hear the basilisk moving. I can't hear it talking. I won't look at its eyes or the reflection, but if I do, the worst that could happen is me being petrified. You, on the other hand, will die. And we can't wait here forever."

Ignoring Ron's sounds of protest, Harry looked up and saw the giant body of the deadly snake completely immobile. Like a terrifying statue, its petrified head was staring at the newly transfigured mirror, looking at its own reflection. Harry forced himself not to look higher. He waited for a few moments before climbing out of the small space. Ron got out after him and they looked at the Basilisk.

"I really thought we were going to die, you know?" He said quietly. Harry nodded. For one moment, he did so too.

They walked away from the snake and when they reached the tip of its tail, Ron exhaled, looking a bit relaxed.

"You do realize that we have to find Ginny, don't you?" Harry said, suddenly turning around. He stopped.

Ron turned around too and stared at his sister who was standing and watching them. But it wasn't her. It couldn't be. The girl standing there and pointing her wand at them wasn't Ginny. Her eyes were red and filled with anger. Both Ron and Harry had seen red eyes like those before.

"Hello Tom." Harry said. Tom glared at them, "The three of you are not going to leave this floor alive."

Ron seemed to be speechless as he watched his own sister speak with such hatred.

"Let her go." Harry said, suppressing his raising anger.

Her eyebrows raised slowly. Suddenly, her body shivered and Ginny collapsed. Ron rushed to her but stopped when a familiar looking boy came from her. His body shimmered as though he was a ghost, but a bit clearer than a spirit.

"You can't help her, anyway. She'll die in a few minutes and then the both of you can follow her." Tom said smirking. Harry clenched his wand and pointed it at Tom. But he wasn't even sure a spell would hit him or not.

Ron kneeled beside Ginny and lifted her to his lap. He gave Tom a hateful glare and said, "Should've known you were behind this. Who else would do something as mental?"

Tom hissed at him. Harry stood beside Ron, wand still in hand.

"You are a pureblood! Act like it!" Tom snarled at Ron who glared back.

"If being a pureblood means killing people, I'd rather be a Blood Traitor!"

Harry's respect for Ron rose.

"Your family will suffer for your words. Their deaths will be on your head!" Tom said and looked towards the petrified basilisk.

"_Fight_!" He hissed in parseltongue. Harry and Ron stared at the snake whose body suddenly shuddered.

"A basilisk actually cannot petrify itself. It's being held by its own magic. Once it's free, I will rid Hogwarts of all the Mudbloods and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work!"

"You haven't finished it this time!"Harry said angrily. "The ones who are already petrified will wake up in about a week, unharmed."

"I'm just getting started, Potter!" He spat. Tom leaned towards Harry and then tried to look at his scar.

"You won't survive. I will promise you this."

A hiss came from the basilisk. The tail moved a bit before staying solid again. Harry pressed his lips together. He couldn't attack Tom. But how were they going to escape the snake a second time?

"What are you?" Ron asked holding Tom's gaze.

"A memory. Preserved in a diary for fifty years." There was a tone of gloating in his voice.

"You killed Myrtle, didn't you?" Ron surmised and Harry saw, out of the corner of his eyes, that Ron made a small motion with his fingers. Harry frowned. Ron's thumb and index fingers were rubbing against each other, the way he would when he played a chess match.

He was sending a signal. Harry noticed that Tom seemed to give more attention to Ron as the red head asked questions that put the culprit under the spot light.

Harry took two careful steps back. Tom didn't notice him.

"That's why you framed Hagrid. You didn't think they'd shut down the school and send you back to your muggle orphanage, did you?" Ron asked smartly.

Tom glared at him. His body looked more solid and his blue eyes had a glint of red in them. "Yes. Dumbledore was the only one who seemed to think he was innocent."

Ron gave a smirk, "Bet Dumbledore saw right through you."

"He kept an annoyingly close watch!"

Harry held his breath and reached for the hilt in one of the knight's armour. As quietly as possible, Harry took out the long sword without disturbing the conversation. He now saw what Ron was doing. Tom clearly liked boasting about himself. Ron was using this to keep the attention away from Harry.

Harry flexed his arm and clutched the sword tightly. As much as he wanted to run it through Tom, he was sure it wouldn't do much damage to the spirit. He took one look at the basilisk and made up his mind. Slowly, but surely, he walked towards the snake. The huge body kept flinching as though it was in pain. Harry kept his eye trained on the head determined to ride the sword into the head. But since it was raised, he had to settle for the neck.

If he could impale the snake to the floor, there was a possibility that he could kill it, indefinitetly. Harry clutched the sword and walked towards the twitching body. Suddenly and hiss emanated from the snake and it shook its head violently.

Harry ducked as it the basilisk tried to lunge at him. It barely missed. It's head was the only movable part, but not for long.

Tom turned around and stared. "What are – "

Harry called on his father's Core. Strength filled his bones, muscles and skin. Raising the large sword, Harry pushed it through the snake's neck, driving it to the floor.

In the next moment, the tail came swinging his way. It crashed against Harry's body. He flew into the opposite wall which crumbled, but he didn't feel much pain. He did hear a crack come from the tail as though one of the snake's bones had broken.

Was he seriously that strong?

Tom let out a hiss and snarled, "_Kill him!"_

The snake shook its head trying to weaken the sword's fixation. Harry ducked its gaze as it swiveled around.

Tom glared at him and turned back to Ron who had half-lifted Ginny up, trying to carry her. The spirit reached down and picked up her wand. Pointing it at Ron he said, "You're first."

Before Ron could react, Tom let out a scream of pain. Looking down, the boys saw a bronze dagger pinning Tom's hand into the wall. Ginny's wand fell out of his grip and Tom tried to remove the dagger in vain. It had been perfectly aimed.

Harry got up, keep his gaze on Tom. His aim had been perfect.

The basilisk slammed its head into the large mirror on the wall in front of it. Shards flew everywhere breaking against Harry's skin and the basilisk's scales. Harry felt his glasses breaking.

Ron stared at the chaos in horror. The basilisk was moments away from being freed and Harry was trapped in the small space. Tom was growing clearer to look at and Ginny was growing colder. Ron shifted Ginny to his left arm and reached in for his wand. But before that, a black diary fell out of her robes.

The basilisk hissed something. Tom snarled at the out of control snake, "_Then bite him and be done with!"_

Harry was about to panic before he heard Ron's voice shout, "Harry! Catch!"

Looking through his cracked spectacles, Harry saw Ron through something to him. He heard rather than saw the small form of a black covered book flying towards him. His seeker reflexes were the only thing that helped him catch the diary.

The basilisk lunged towards him and Harry jumped out of the way. He understood what Ron wanted him to do. The basilisk was hungry. It hadn't eaten anything for more than a millennia. Now that wouldn't do…

"Chew on this!" Harry yelled. He shut his eyes, clutched the book in his left hand and threw it in the direction from where the angry spitting and hissing noise came from. By intensely excellent luck, the diary flew into its mouth and the basilisk clamped its jaw on the comparatively small object.

Both Tom and the basilisk screamed. Harry threw himself on the ground and shielded his face from the light that came from him. There was a ground trembling 'thud' and the hissing stopped.

The silence felt deadly for some reason. Harry cracked one eye open when he heard a groan from the other side of the corpse. Tom was gone and he saw Ginny stirring in Ron's arms. The brother hugged the little girl as she started shivering.

Harry got up, keeping his eye on the siblings and walked towards them.

"Ginny?" Harry asked in a low voice. She looked up, her eyes red.

"Harry! Ron, I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

"Shh!" Ron hugged her again and let her cry into his robes. She didn't have a scratch on her. In fact neither of them did. Harry looked at his dagger, still sticking out of the wall. Holding it tightly, he pulled it out. The slit in the wall made him feel bad. As though, he had hurt Hogwarts.

Placing his palm against it, Harry leaned on the wall and sighed.

"I'm a little tired." He commented. He had just woken up about an hour ago from an almost petrification-coma attack. Then he had killed a basilisk with a diary. It would make one exhausted.

The adrenaline was gone and Harry sat on the floor.

"You could've hit me with that." Ron said a slightly accusing voice. Harry looked up to see the Weasleys look at his dagger.

"No." Harry said flatly, staring at the blade.

"You threw it from all the way over there!"

"I aimed for his hand, not you. Ergo, it wouldn't have hit you at all."

The three suddenly heard footsteps echoing around the area. They grew louder and Lockhart turned the corner and came into view. He looked at the children before his gaze was caught by the motionless form of the snake.

His jaw dropped and he stammered, "What… what is…"

"You should know. You're the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. You're Gilderoy Lockhart, slayer of the Denmark Banshees, curer of the Slovakia Werewolf and Lord of the Yetis." Harry said, each word laced with sarcasm.

"I… yes! I am. It's just that…"

"It's a cobra." Ron said waiting for Lockhart's reaction.

"It doesn't look like a cobra. Doesn't a cobra have a hood?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look. Ginny frowned at him. "Even I know what that is."

"I know what it is." Lockhart said in an irritated tone. "I meant to ask, what's it doing in Hogwarts?"

"It's dead. What do _you_ think it is?" Harry asked standing up to look at him. Lockhart frowned at his question and made a strange gesture with his left hand, "A c… cobra, right?"

"Oh Merlin." Ron sighed.

"You're a fraud." Ginny said, unexpectedly. "The facts in your books are wrong."

"Excuse me? How can you give me an accusation like that?!" he asked enraged.

Ron stepped in front of Ginny glaring at him.

"You know what? I think so too." Harry said slowly waiting for Lockhart's reaction.

"You have no idea what I've been through!"Lockhart said, his hand slowly trying to take out his wand. Harry flipped out his first and held the dagger too. Ron pointed his wand at him and Ginny picked hers off the floor.

"Explain me this." Harry said. "In three of your books, you've miswritten your own age –"

"I'm 34!"

"You're 32! You were in the same year as my parents!" Harry retorted.

"No, I –"

"There's a photo of the seventh year graduation which has you in the background."

"I was a prefect! I was supposed to attend it!"

"You were neither a prefect nor a fifth year. So would you like to tell us how two years magically appeared in your life?"

Lockhart held his wand weakly as the others pointed theirs at him.

"You are a fraud. Your books were written as fiction. Everywhere you went on 'vacation', you solved a great big mystery!"

"Not everywhere! I was called by most people for help." The man said delicately.

"Most of the villages you went to were remote and the people didn't even know much of what was going on in the world. They had no clue of wizards. How could they _call_ you?"

Lockhart finally glared at them and lowered his wand, "Fine! You're right. I didn't do a bloody thing, but the people who did were really unpleasant to look at!"

Ginny stared, "So you took credit for what they did?!"

"You should've seen them! The old man who hatched the plan to chase away that werewolf had to use a walking stick! There were two girls who realized that it was a group of banshees who were really killing the people in their villages. A woman who had a twenty cats discovered the lost treasure which was hidden by that vampire! Some of the others were actually muggles!"

"What did you do to them?" Harry asked slowly, his anger rising.

Lockhart gave a nonchalant shrug, "The mind is an intricate thing. A small prod in the right section can determine what to forget and what to remember."

"You're a Psychic. You removed their memories!"

"It was for the best. My face was much better to look at and portray as a hero. And now, I'm going to be busy writing my new novel about the 'Case of the Cobra'."

His eyes suddenly became a clear blue and he stared right at Harry. There was a slow but building pain in his head. Harry staggered and clutched the wall. Then the pain was gone. At the same time, there was a loud crash and Harry blinked rapidly to see what had happened.

Lockhart was on the ground with a knot on his head. The knight that had been motionlessly standing by the wall and raised his iron fist and slammed Lockhart on the head.

Ron grabbed harry and steadied him.

"You okay? Do you remember my name?" Ron asked shaking Harry slightly.

"Yeah, Ron. Don't worry. Pain's gone." Harry assured him. He got up shakily and saw Ginny was pressing her hand against her temples as though she had gone through the same pain.

"It didn't affect you?" He asked Ron.

"I actually looked away from him. He needed eyes contact to work his Core. I looked towards the suit of armour and it knocked him out! You gotta love Hogwarts."

He helped Ginny up. Harry flipped the dagger back into his bracelet.

"How –" Ron began, his eyes wide. Harry shook his head, "Not now."

"Fine. What do we do with that?" Ron said in disgust, pointing at the dead basilisk.

Ginny looked away from them and stared at the other end of the corridor. Harry gave her a glance before saying, "That's not important. Ginny? How did you get it in the first place?"

She turned around and whispered, "It was among my other books. I found it after the feast, on the first night. It was in my bag. I thought it was one of the unused secondhand books for rough work."

Harry scratched his temple. "Well, we need it, now. To show it to Dumbledore."

"I'm going to get expelled, aren't I?" She asked in a small voice.

"No!" Ron said at once.

"Of course not. Headmaster's probably going to offer you a Sherbet lemon and send you to the Hospital Wing." Harry said easily. Ginny gave him a tentative smile.

"That diary's gonna be a bloody mess. I mean, basilisk venom is seriously dangerous." Ron muttered craning his head to see past the huge mid portion of the snake.

Harry too out his wand and flicked it in the direction of the snake's head, "Accio Diary."

A mangled mess flew towards them. Ginny shrieked and stumbled out of the way. Harry dodged it as it hit the wall and lay on the floor motionless.

There was one scorched melted hole running through the diary and ink was splattered across it.

"You'll never see it again, Ginny." Ron assured her. She nodded and looked at it, saying, "I never want to see the basilisk again, either."

"Done." Harry said and pointed at the large tail.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked warily.

"Sending it home." Harry said. He flicked his wand, imagining strands connecting the body to the tip of his wand. Holding it with both hands, Harry brought the wand heavily and speedily over his shoulder and pointed it at the opposite end of the corridor.

The three of them ducked and pressed themselves into the wall as the body went sliding on the floor and hit the other wall.

"Levitate it." Harry told Ron gesturing to the diary and ran towards the snake. Pulling the tail towards the abandoned girl's bathroom, Harry stared at the large hole gaping at him. One of the basins was missing and there was a deep tunnel in it.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked him and he looked up to see Moaning Myrtle floating near the ceiling staring at the strange sight of a second-year sliding a snake.

"Dragging a corpse."

"I can see that."

"Then why'd you ask?" Harry questioned as Ron and Ginny ran over to his side. He gave pulled again and ducked to the side as the body fell heavily into the tunnel. There was a low echoing slam of the snake falling into the Chamber of Secrets.

Ginny reached over and turned the tap of the basin that had lowered itself. It rose slowly, making a dull roar as cement hit concrete.

"Who wants to guess the password to Dumbledore's office?" Harry asked after exhaling.

* * *

The week was filled with nothing but gossip and rumours of what exactly happened. Harry, Ron and Ginny had told the staff and Headmaster what really happened. The only other students who had full knowledge of the events were Hermione and DJ.

Lockhart was still in the Hospital Wing as his head wasn't fixed up yet. Harry preferred him there.

Warped versions of the mysteries on the Chamber of Secrets' monsters were spread by the media and printed in the Daily Prophet every day.

It was for that sole purpose, DJ had a letter from Rosalie McCarty.

_Dear Daniel J. Potter,_

_Since neither you nor your cousin have replied to me, I assume that you have no wish to be in contact. If that is the case, then this is our last correspondence._

_Thank you for being patient as to read my letter. I have read the papers and am glad to hear that no inhabitant of Hogwarts have been harmed permanently. I do hope you are alright and am glad that you are safe._

_I realize that you're lack of reply might have something to do with the confusion of my age and appearance. I assume you have the Potter family book and have looked me up. I am willing to explain face-to-face. But if you aren't interested, I truly don't mind._

_At the moment, my family is traveling and so if you do wish to reply, you can deliver a letter through your Headmaster. Albus knows how to reach us._

_If not, this is our last written conversation and so I wish you good luck in your future._

_Mrs. McCarty._

"I actually wanted to reply. I mean, she knew my Mum." DJ said slowly, after reading the letter. Harry leaned back against the bed post of DJ's bed.

"Why didn't you?"

"I was afraid, I guess. She isn't exactly human. You know what she is?"

"Yes."

The first year waited, "Well?"

Harry sat up and said, "Why don't you wait for her to say? She'll give a better explanation than me."

DJ sighed, "Why can't you just tell me?"

"May be I want you to reply to her." Harry said slowly.

DJ gave him a long look and then grabbed an empty piece of parchment from his drawer, a quill and his ink bottle. His owl, Garth, immediately flew in closer to watch DJ write the letter.

There was a knock on the window and Harry jumped up to open it and let three owls fly in. They were carrying a long package which they dropped on the bed.

"What?" DJ muttered staring at the owls. Harry said nothing as he put in a few sickles in their pouched for the delivery. Garth gave them a hard stare and squawked. The owls flew away.

"It's addressed to me!" DJ said in surprise reading his name on the tag.

"Hmm. May be that's why it was dropped on your bed."

DJ ripped open the cover and stared at the sleek new shiny broom that was laying proudly on his bed. In gold letters, embedded at the top, were 'SilverStar S17.'

DJ turned to look at Harry, "You ordered it for me, didn't you?"

"May be."

DJ seemed to be at a loss for words. Harry frowned at the lack of response, "Do you want me to get the high-tech Safety Regulation kit with this? It was optional and really expensive. Adult's signature was required for that because it's the latest. If you wait for a few weeks, I can ask Dumbledore –"

DJ leaped forwards and wrapped his arms around Harry. The latter froze before he tried to relax. Awkwardly, he patted DJ's shoulder.

In the doorway of the empty first-years' dorm, Ginny stood staring at the scene. Harry saw her and desperately gave her a 'what to do' look.

She silently raised her arms and curved them, indicating that he should put his arms around the boy.

Oh, yeah. It should have seemed obvious. Harry pressed his lips together and moved his hands. It felt a bit awkward, but DJ said, "Thanks, Harry. It means a lot."

Harry felt better.

* * *

DJ could not be separated from his SilverStar for the next few days. He showed it to his friends who 'Oohd' and 'Ahhd' at it and him. Oliver Wood watched him fly and begged him to try for the Quidditch Reserve Team next year.

Harry was glad that his cousin was showing off the broom. It reduced the attention people gave him and focused it own the new broom which was just released about a month ago.

Harry sighed as he walked along the deserted corridor. He took the longest way unused ways he could after he left the Hospital Wing.

Poppy, as he had taken to call her, had lectured him about the dangers of consuming too many portions of Calming Draughts and Dreamless Sleep Potions. She told him other ways to calm himself down and gave him a slip of parchment with her sign for a beginner's book on an art of magic called Occlumency.

She had said that it was Dumbledore's suggestion. At first Harry was angry that she had told him, but her explanation that his discomfort should be reported to authorities stemmed his anger momentarily. She was doing her duty. Dumbledore hadn't called down St. Mungo's on his head.

Besides, after his side project of learning Gobbledegook, Occlumency filled up his list and he couldn't wait to start the book.

There was a rude sound of air being let out a balloon and Peeves suddenly popped out from the air above Harry.

"Hey, Peeves." Harry said warily keeping an eye on the sneaky poltergeist. Peeves grinned comically at him and said, "Potty's looking peeved. What shall Peeves do?"

"You can leave me alone until my Hogwarts years are over." Harry suggested.

Peeves laughed and started flipping around in the air.

"Oh no! Potty makes Hogwarts extra fun! Why would Peeves leave him alone?"

"It would be quieter."

"HA! Every little ickle midget run from me. Potty destroyed the big bad monster!"

"May be you have ADHD." Harry muttered. Peeves only laughed and followed Harry down another floor.

"Ooh! Mrs. Norris, kitty is bad!"

Mrs. Norris, who had been wandering about the corridor; she looked up and hissed at the little man in colourful clothes.

"Do you have to annoy everyone?" Harry asked giving Mrs. Norris a chance to run away from Peeves.

"Annoy? Yes. Ask? Yes. Steal? Yes. Annoy? Yes!"

"Ask what?"

"Is you're broom stick flying?" Peeves asked innocently. Harry sighed, "Not at the moment."

Peeves looked a little put out at that and stuck out his tongue at Harry.

"You steal too?" Harry asked remembering what he had said.

Peeves grinned, "Loony's shoes! Cats and bags! Cones and Frisbrees!"

"Frisbees." Harry muttered, thinking about the Fanged Frisbee.

"Yup! Weasely boys' Frisbee gone!"

Harry stopped walking and stared at Peeves.

"You stole Fred and George's frisbree?"

"Used it. Stole it. Poor poor- … AACCKKK!" Peeves cried when Harry grabbed him by the neck.

"You nearly killed my cousin." Harry said, his grip becoming tighter. His anger flared up suddenly and he had the urge to punch the poltergeist into a ball. Instead Harry just threw him with such force, that Peeves flew, through a large window and fell straight into the Black Lake, screaming all the while.

Harry took a deep breath and flexed his shoulder.

"Stress reliever. I really need a stress reliever."

"_Yes, you do." _Bolt answered in his head. She was still recuperating from the attack and Harry had not let her out of his sight for days.

He promised himself to make a song by himself. It would give his mind some inspiration to search for and thus keep busy.

* * *

Harry could see the three of the sitting by the large tree by the lake. Ron was standing on the waters of the Lake staring at him in amusement.

"Guess what?"

"What?" Harry asked looking at him and then at Hermione who had her Charms book open and reading about fusing Earth's purity with a wizard's magic. Ginny was playing around with a small ball of fire. She had given him a small smile and then looked away.

"Peeves just fell into the lake a while ago. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

Harry gave a shrug and sat on the ground, leaning by the tree.

"May be he annoyed someone?"

"He always annoys someone."

"May be he annoyed the wrong person."

Hermione let out a small muffled giggle and Ron snorted and shook his head. Harry tilted his head to look at the leaves above. They were looking fresh as Summer was slowly approaching.

Harry looked ahead and saw DJ fly towards them on his new broom.

"Hey guys! Ginny, what're you doing near the lake?"

Ginny gave a noncommittal shrug and stared at her fireball.

DJ gave Harry a wink and walked around the tree to talk to Ron. Harry watched them for a while before conjuring a white flower in his hand to smell. Hermione looked up with interest.

"That's beautiful, Harry. What is it?"

"It's a tiger lily. Just white. "

"You like tiger lilies." She accused calmly.

Harry shrugged, "That's me. The White Tiger Lily."

Hermione and Ginny smiled at that. Harry stared at the petals lost in his own world. He could feel a slight wilt in the flower. The smell was gentle and it wafted around him. Harry stretched. The silence was nice. He could close his eyes and hopefully fall asleep. It wouldn't happen, of course, but he could always hope.

Then something changed in the air. Harry opened his eyes and frowned. The wind stopped. Everything stopped moving. The silence grew louder and there was a faint ringing in Harry's ears.

"Guys, can you feel that?" Harry asked.

Nobody answered back. Harry stared at them. The four of them were spread out around him, not moving a muscle. Hermione was concentrating on her book. Ginny was still looking at her fire ball. But there was something wrong there. The flames had frozen. Harry turned to see Ron sitting on the water's surface and DJ was on the ground too.

Nobody was moving. Everything felt so still that Harry felt as though time had stopped. On a hunch, he took a look at his watch he had bought before his first year at Hogwarts. The needles were still. The second hand was as motionless as the scene around him.

Harry let out a breath and tried not to go into a level of panic. Then, he felt a slight breeze.

There was something bright green floating around him. It wasn't ordinary. He could feel the power. It was hard to breath near the green mist. He moved away from it and then looked ahead. There was someone faint, standing there. The light silhouette was blurred but it slowly came into focus. Harry could see something dark blue hovering over the form. Clutching his flower, Harry stood up and looked at the person standing.

Then, he saw it. Harry froze staring at the boy who stared back at him just as shocked.

The face almost hadn't changed. The pale white just like his own skin was distracting, but Harry knew how to avoid looking at it. He instead looked at the bright sea-green/blue eyes. They were wide as they looked back at him in amazement and confusion.

His hair was blue for some reason. Harry gave it a second's attention. Dark blue hair suited him. But it didn't look as natural as the usual black he had been used to.

"Harry." The boy whispered looking at the twelve year old wizard. The only thing Harry could say was, "Percy."

They stared at each other for another five seconds, but the green mist disappeared taking his form away with it.

The wind picked up and Harry realized that his hand was raised as though he had tried to hold him.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice called out and he turned around to look at her. She was looking up at him, confused.

"You were just sitting there and the next moment you're standing… How did you move so fast?"

Harry stared at her and then at Ginny who looked confused too. Ron got up from the water and DJ leaned around to look at Harry.

"You… you didn't see him…"

"See who?" Ron asked baffled.

Harry just looked at them, "My brother, Percy Jackson."

* * *

**Stay tuned for the next story – The Lost**

**Cabba.**


End file.
